Alfaisal magazine 2013 by Alfaisal University

alfAisAl UNiVERsity

MaGazine Graduation Special Supplement

Engineering at Alfaisal University 13 Studying Springboard for Creative Minds 23 BS Computer Science Program Launched at Alfaisal 19 Report on Corona Virus MERS-CoV 15 College of Business UAE Field Trip 35 Student Research Awards 1

August 2013

Magazine

August 2013 / Issue 4

Faith FAITH Knowledge KNOWLEDGE Performance

PERFORMANCE Magazine

August 2013

alfAisAl UNiVERsity

MaGazine

Contents 5

Alfaisal University Co-Founder

Board of Trustees

Provost's Message

Editorial Team Marketing & PR Acting - Director

Mr. Adel Alrajab Managing Editor:

Convocation 2012 -2013

Ms. Saphia Ikram

9-12

News Update

Editor

13-14

College of Engineering

15-18

College of Business

19-22

College of Medicine

23-26

College of Science

27-28

Student Affairs

29-32

Marketing & Public Relations

33-34

Alfaisal Library

35-36

Alfaisal Research

37-52

Alfaisal Special Supplement

53-56

Alfaisal Information Technology

57-58

Alfaisal Advancement

59-60

Alumni & Placement Relations

Dr. Muhammad Haris Web-Publishing

Mr. Ashik Ahmed Graphic Artist:

Mr. Rovelyn P. Rico

How to Contact us: Tel. No. 920000570 +966 11 2157817 Fax No. 920000571 +966 11 215 7816 P.O. box 50927 Riyadh 11533 Website: www.alfaisal.edu Email: pr@alfaisal.edu

alfAisAl UnivERsity MosQuE 3

August 2013

Magazine

August 2013

Alfaisal University Co-Fouder

Board of Trustees

HRH. Prince Khalid Al Faisal Chairman, Board of Trustees HH. Prince Khalid bin Fahad King Faisal Foundation (KFF) HRH Prince Bandar Al-Faisal King Faisal Foundation (KFF) HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal bin Abdulaziz King Faisal Foundation (KFF) HH (Dr). Prince Turki bin Saud Al-Saud Vice President King AbdulAziz Centre for Science & Technology HH Prince Bandar bin Saud bin Khalid Al-Saud King Faisal Foundation (KFF) Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel Dallah Al Baraka Holding Company Sheikh Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Jomaih Al Jomaih Holding Company Sheikh Yahya bin Mohamed Binladin Saudi Binladin Group Sheikh Mohammed bin Hussain Al-Amoudi Al Amoudi Group Dr. Qasem Al-Qassabi King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre (KFSHRC)

August 2013

Magazine

Eng. Ahmed Al-Jazzar President, Boeing-Saudi Arabia Mr. James McDowell BAE Systems Eng. Fred Nader United Technologies Mr. Christian Lamoureux Country Director, Thales International Dr. Abdullah Abdulrahman Al-Othman Rector, King Saud University Dr. Mohammed bin Yahaya Al-Shehry Professor of Surgery, King Khaled University Dr. Abdullah Abdul Karim Al-Musallam The Secretary for National Commission for Academic Accreditation & Assessment. Dr. Abdulrahman Mohammad Abouammoh King Saud University Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Ohly Ministry of Higher Education Dr. Faisal Abdulaziz Al Mubarak Provost , Vice President & Chief Academic Officer Alfaisal University

Magazine

August 2013

MESSAGE

Provost's Challenge inspires innovation

Convocation 2012-2013

aimed at engaging highly qualified graduate students from Arab countries to develop cutting edge research focusing on technological challenges facing the region. Alfaisal University ranked number one in the highly competitive Aramco national research competition, winning three from the total of thirteen grants offered. A team from Alfaisal College of Engineering, Australia, UAE and UK will collaborate on the three projects totaling SAR 1.6 million. Other faculty has secured research projects with SAGIA, AlAnoud Foundation, and Boeing has generously endowed our students with SAR 200,000 annually to support student research proposals in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), Business and Health Sciences. . According to KACST Thompson Reuters study which covered the years 2001-2010, Alfaisal ranks number one in terms of published research (2 per faculty) compared to KFUPM (1.8) and (0.5) for KSU. Alfaisal also ranks number one in terms of total research funding per faculty, averaging SAR 0.7m, compared to 0.09 for KSU, and 0.2 at KFUPM. We believe the achievements particularly over the last years have been quite remarkable.

his academic year we celebrate the gradation of our second class of fine students, the class of 2013. Over the last few years, Alfaisal University has marshaled seamlessly towards the materialization of its ambitious mission, evident in meeting most performance indicators in its original strategic plan. In fact, it surpassed some indicators, despite the challenges manifest in the rudimentary national private higher educational institutional framework, and intensive competition from reputable, financially endowed public universities. Yet, challenge inspires innovation. A few statistics may clarify my point. At Alfaisal University’s main campus, the number of faculty has increased from 20 in 2008, to 57 in 2011, reaching 99 in 2012. In 2012, the administration of the undergraduate preparatory year program was moved directly under the purview of Al Faisal, adding 30 more faculty and 15 administrators. Moreover, the Prince Sultan Colleges of Tourism and Business in Abha and Jeddah were merged under the supervision of Alfaisal University. Both are currently undergoing major overhauls to be aligned with the mission of Alfaisal University. Our student body at Alfaisal University’s main campus grew from 350 in 2010 to 1,400, in 2013. Such numbers though may seem miniscule in comparison with other much more established public universities, such as King Saud University, but surely the growth rate is impressive, Al Hamdulilahl, and prove that our University is heading in a positive direction. In the area of research, this year alone, Alfaisal University has secured three research grants totaling SAR 5 million, and our faculty is actively engaged with KACST Internal Projects as team consultants. God Willing, we are in the final stages of the establishment of the 10-year, SAR 27.7 million “Center for Excellence in Nano-Manufacturing Applications” in collaboration with KACST and CENA in Belgium, a pioneering project

August 2013

Magazine

Master of Ceremony Mohammed Razaz

Alfaisal University was established with a clear commitment to excellence in teaching, research, and service. If our goal of shaping future leaders in diverse fields of human knowledge and enriching human thought is to be achieved, we must recruit, support, and retain individuals of the highest qualifications and professional dedication as members of the Alfaisal University faculty. As Alfaisal pursues its vision as "… a world-class research oriented university committed to the creation, dissemination and application of knowledge," I want to underscore our dedication to establishing a campus culture that fosters the personal growth and professional development of our faculty. All such achievements could not have been accomplished without the dedication of our staff, faculty and to the generosity of Al Faisal University’s Board of Trustees, chaired by HRH Prince Khalid al Faisal, and with the help of a number of world-class dignitaries including King Faisal’s descendants, as well as leaders of national and international business establishments and government sector executives. They provide tremendous support to Alfaisal leadership to assure that its mission is safeguarded. As the Provost of Alfaisal University, I would like to reiterate my sincere congratulations to the graduating class of 2013, for all your achievements and hard work. On behalf of allthe faculty, staff and Board of Trustees, I would like you to know how truly proud we are of you all.

Dean's list students awarded at Convocation

Dr. Faisal Al-Mubarak Vice President, Chief Academic Officer (Provost)

Eng. Abdurahman Alruwaita , CEO Aseer Com. Convocation keynote speaker

Magazine

August 2013

Alfaisal

News Update

Compiled by: Saphia Ikram

Alfaisal University top students awarded by Boeing Company

Almost 100 students were recently honoured for their achievements at Annual Student Research Recognition Day. The event was held on 1 May 2013 on the campus at Alfaisal University and highlighted the importance of student involvement in research, the university’s commitment to its research mission and to recognize students' research accomplishments in an award giving ceremony. Accomplishments included: winning posters in the Alfaisal University 4th Annual Student Poster Competition, publishing articles such as journal papers and book chapters with faculty; production of winning awards at national and international competitions for best oral and poster presentations, conference attendance at national and international meetings; as well as being volunteering activities at the King Faisal International Prize. Continued on page 30

Alfaisal University hosted an awards ceremony for its top 5 students awarding them with a full scholarship presented by Boeing Company. A cheque by Boeing President was presented to the deserving students.The event started by welcoming the President of Boeing – Saudi Arabia Mr. Ahmed A. Jazzar by Provost and Deans of colleges. Then the award winning students ( Abdullah Faisal AlMahmoud, Abedalrazaq Osama Alkukhun, Saad Mohammed Alkabab, S.M. Naqi Haider Rizvi, Mohammed khaled Ibrahim) were congratulated by Mr. Ahmed Jazzar for their brilliant achievements. He also wished them further success in their careers.

Alfaisal University Participates in the "Fourth Scientific Conference for students of higher education in the K.S.A." Apr. 29th -May 2nd, 2013.Alfaisal University will showcase its students at a major conference as they participate and present their papers at the "Fourth Scientific Conference for students of higher education in Makkah". This annual conference attracts students from all Saudi universities, and universities are keen on nominating and encouraging their students to participate. Alfaisal students have been part of many national and international conferences where they have presented papers, their research, winning awards, getting their research published and also winning competitions which has all been an integral part of their education at Alfaisal. Every year they succeed in achieving more international recognition for their efforts and discoveries. Six students from different colleges are participating in the Ministry of Higher Education conference schedule to take place in Makkah from Apr. 29th to May 2nd, 2013

Alfaisal Student wins at International Surgical Oncology Congress and Residents Research Day By: Mohamed D. Ray-zack Third-year medical student A series of research-based conferences and seminars were recently organized in preparation for the commissioning of the King Abdullah Cancer Center, where all multi-disciplinary services joined hands to share expertise in the treatment and management of cancer patients within the Gulf region, with the underlying goal of becoming a world-leading cancer center. The event took place on November 6 to 8, 2012 and was held at the Postgraduate Center at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center. It was attended by many surgeons, residents and scientific delegates. The attendees included Dr. Dieter Broering (OTC Director), Dr. Abdulaziz Jarman, Dr. Suleiman Al-Omran, Dr. Khaled Alkattan, Dr. Nasser Al Sanea, and Dr. Luai Ashari. The first two days were dedicated to speeches from surgeons and oncology researchers. The third day was the 12th Annual Surgical Research and Residents Day opening the floor to residents and students to present their novel research abstracts in the fields of oncology and surgery.

Alfaisal Medical Students Publish an Original Journal Article & Achieve the First Three Awards in SAPIC Alfaisal University college of Medicine student researchers participated in the “State of Art Pediatric International Conference” at King Fahad Cultural Center and won the first three awards. The conference organizers have dedicated a special session for undergraduate research where students from all over the kingdom can contribute articles. First award was given to Ahmad Shamia, Malik Nassan, Mohammad Adeeb Sebai and Mohammad Rayzack on the topic of “Genomic Approaches Reduce the Diagnostic Challenge in Retinal Dystrophy Patients and Reveal Novel Diseases Genes “. Second award went to Cynthia Mosher, Asma AlHOulan, Tahreem Khan, Reem Hamadah, Alaa Hashem, Yosra Almakadama, Abdullah Sarkar, Abdulrahman AlHamadani, under the guidance of faculty advisor, Dr. Abiola Senok, on the subject of” Improving Breastfeeding in Saudi Arabia: The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative,” and finally, the third award went to Alrabab Alshanqity, Safia Andleeb, Ahmad Shamia, Tahreem Khan, Norah AlArifi and Leen Raddaoui- under collaboration and guidance of Dr. Saadallah, Dr. Qureshi, Dr. AlRajhi and Ms. Fadwa Mansour - for “Timeliness of Care for Pediatric Patients in DEM at KFSHRC."

BAE Systems Presentation at Alfaisal University Mr. Jim McDowel, CEO & MD BAE Systems KSA, spoke about Leadership and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the students of College of Business. The presentation took place on the 14th of April 2013. Mr. McDowel started the lecture by introducing BAE Systems as a global company and its business in KSA. BAE Systems is a global defense, aerospace and security company with approximately 90,000 employees worldwide. The Company delivers products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, security, information technology solutions, and customer support services. Mr. McDowel then spoke about leadership as earning trust and the art of motivating people to act towards achieving a common goal. He stated some facts about FDI and BAE Systems definition of FDI. He also stated FDI is not just about money, it is a commitment to the national agenda. Leadership is about people. The lecture is part of College of Business Executive Lecture Series to provide Alfaisal University students and guests from the business community the opportunity to learn from some of the country’s leading executives as they talk about their careers and leadership experiences. College of Business sponsors the monthly Executive Lecture Series as a way to bridge the gap between the world of leadership and business education

August 2013

News Update

Alfaisal University Students Honoured at Annual Student Research Recognition Day

Alfaisal University Participates in the Fourth Scientific Conference for students of higher education in the K.S.A. Apr. 29th -May 2nd, 2013

Alfaisal

Magazine

Furthermore, high appreciation for the continued contribution of Boeing Company was expressed by Al Faisal University through presentation of an award to Mr. Ahmend Jazzar by Provost Dr. Faisal Al Mubarak. HRH Prince Saud bin Khalid Al Faisal, Deputy Governor of Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) speaks to International Economic Class on Investing in Saudi Arabia Riyadh 2nd January 2013: Invited by students of International Economics as Alfaisal University, HRH Prince Saud bin Khaled addressed a class of over 25 seniors about Investing in Saudi Arabia. The Prince is uniquely qualified to address this topic he heads the Investment Affairs department, which is responsible for managing the investment environment and competitiveness agenda of Saudi Arabia and also serves as vice chairman of Saudi Arabia's joint economic commissions with Switzerland, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Greece, Azerbaijan, and Senegal. He is also the President of the National Competitiveness Center and a Board Member of the Saudi Industrial Property.

Alfaisal University participates in IECHE, International Exhibit and Conference for Higher Education Alfaisal University participated in the International Exhibition and Conference on Higher Education which is the premier educational exhibition in Saudi Arabia; as universities from around the world come to recruit students whilst exploring new opportunities for international partnerships. Organized by the Ministry of Higher Education, the exhibition was open from 16 - 19 April 2013, over 436 universities participated with international institutions from 37 countries as well as 51 universities and institutions from within the kingdom. Alfaisal’s participation in the International Exhibition & Conference on Higher Education, which brought together universities from around the world under one roof, was a golden chance to strengthen its relations among private universities and governmental organizations locally and globally, and a great opportunity to introduce its unique world-class quality programs in different disciplines. In addition to showcasing its programs Alfaisal highlighted its attractive scholarship programs that are provided for both Saudis and nonSaudis wanting to pursue their educational career at Alfaisal, giving students the choice of quality higher learning at home. Over 2000 students visited the Alfaisal University stand and were welcomed by eager academics and professionals to help the young Saudi students find the right course to study at Alfaisal

Astronauts Land at Alfaisal University Campus 4 renowned Astronauts landed today at the Alfaisal University Campus, to meet with students, as part of their community day. The astronauts: Vance Brand, Jeff Hoffman, Loren Acton and Tom Henman, who attended and participated in the Saudi International Space and Aeronautics Technology Conference, met with a lively group of excited students and faculty to share their experiences in outer space. A presentation was delivered which gave the audience insight into all the preparations that take place before a space mission is launched. The Astronauts then spoke about their individual experiences and gave students advice on taking chances, opportunities and making the best of what you have. Provost Dr. Faisal Al Mubarak was pleased with the visit and participated in the session, with students and faculty. A tour of the campus facilities led by Dr. Faisal was well received. Tom Henman stated : 'This has been the most exciting part of our day today, your students are an asset'.

Alfaisal University’s College of Medicine Poster Wins most popular vote in Cureus Fall 2012 Poster competition Alfaisal University works intently on encouraging its students in research. This was recently highlighted through the achievements of many of the students of the College of Medicine through their participation in an international poster competition. Having won second place in this year’s Alfaisal University Research Poster Competition for their research poster “Improving Breastfeeding in Saudi Arabia: The Baby Friendly Hospital Initative”, the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative Team decided to take it to the international competition level. They entered the Cureus Poster Competition 2012, which received over 500 poster entries from students from some of the most renowned medical schools around the world. The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative Team garnered the most votes during the competition winning, the People’s Choice Award. Additionally, Alfaisal University became the second ranking Top School with 60 posters submitted; surpassing universities such as Stanford, University of Washington, Penn State, Harvard, Vanderbilt, and Johns Hopkins.

Magazine

August 2013

Alfaisal

News Update

HE. Dr. Niall Holohan, Ambassador of Ireland speaks of his visit to Alfaisal

Alfaisal

News Update

Visually impaired student tops engineering exam

y visit to Alfaisal University this week was a great privilege for me and one that I enjoyed immensely. I was deeply impressed by the efforts that are being made to create a world-class institution located at the site of King Faisal’s former royal palace and to ensure that the standard of education and training offered to the student body there is second to none. In particular, I believe that the University’s philosophy of student-centred learning could act as a model for institutions of academic learning elsewhere in the world. As someone myself who was trained in a scientific discipline, I am fully aware of the value of the scientific method and how it can be utilised to good effect even outside a specific scientific framework. I therefore fully endorse the emphasis which Alfaisal University has placed on scientific and medical technology. I would also like to commend the University on the innovative measures they have put in place to ensure that their superb educational facilities can be made available equally to both their male and female students.

Naqi Haider Rizvi recieves his degree from Gov. of Riyadh HRH Prince Khaled bin Bandar. (AN Photo)

Irish Ambassador meets Engineering Students with HRH Dr. Maha Al Saud, External Relations Director

I am greatly heartened furthermore by the academic ties which already exist between the University and several Irish institutions. In particular, I am pleased to see the connections with Queen’s University Belfast (my own alma mater which I myself attended many years ago) and with the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin. I hope that it will prove possible to expand such interchanges in a whole variety of new ways in the coming years. Finally I would like to commend the University’s Provost, Dr Faisal Al Mubarak, and all his staff and faculty for the innovative and creative manner in which they are advancing the whole concept of a modern academic education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Not only will the University’s students benefit greatly from their progressive approach but so also will the whole Saudi nation who in future years will be able to avail of the skills of the current students for the best possible national advantage. Riyadh 30 Jan 2013

Naqi Haider Rizvi receives his degree from Gov. of Riyadh Prince Khaled bin Bandar. (AN photo) lfaisal University recently awarded an engineering degree to excel and overcome all obstacles. He said that many people to a visually impaired student, Naqi Haider Rizvi, who assumed engineering to be an impossible goal for a completely attained the highest GPA in his year. blind person.

Rizvi’s graduation commencement speech earned applause from the audience, which included high- ranking officials including Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Prince Khaled bin Bandar, and Faisal AlMubarak, provost of Alfaisal University.

“I achieved this with perseverance and determination. I would like to tell people that vision is more important than sight”, he added.

Rizvi told Arab News: “Although I am visually impaired, I studied hard to fulfill my parents' wishes. The support and confidence of my family and teachers, allowed me to cross all hurdles and realize my goal.”

About his future aspirations, Rizvi said, “I want to pursue my post graduate degree and Ph.D. But before that, I would like to work for a year or two to gain some experience in industrial engineering.

Talking about the preparations, he said, “It is not necessary to hold a book in one’s hand day and night. I tried to study on a regular basis and increased my study hours in order to cover the course material. If one really wants to concentrate on studies, peace of mind is vital. It is very important to have sufficient sleep before the exams.”

Irish Ambassador meets Provost Dr. Faisal Al Mubarak with Dean of Engineering, Business and Associate Vice President for Research

Rizvi hails from a South Asian family, born to an Indian mother and Pakistani father.

The most important thing, which I would definitely like to do, is to help visually impaired individuals and motivate them to pursue science or other technical disciplines in order to alter the perception people harbor toward visually challenged individuals.” “I attribute this success to my university teachers, family and friends once again for supporting me all the way and for having confidence in my abilities,” he added.

“I am grateful to my family for their support and strong belief in my abilities. Although I am a child with special needs, they pushed me to do my best and treated me like a normal child.”

Saphia Ikram, the public relations and communication manager at Alfaisal University, said, “The University’s mission focuses on providing quality academics while remaining a student-centered institution.

According to his parents, was not in Rizvi’s dictionary and his strong conviction that everything is possible allowed him to attain the highest GPA. “We are very proud of him,” they said.

Our faculty demonstrates care and commitment toward the student body; we are dedicated in our efforts to teach and support student’s learning.”

The inspiration for him to score the highest marks came from a determination 11

August 2013

Magazine

August 2013

College of

Engineering

Studying Engineering at Alfaisal University: A Springboard for Creative Minds Engineers design, operate and manage various forms of structures, machines and processes for the benefit of society.

ngineering solves real life problems in order to improve the lives of people everywhere and to ensure future sustainability. An engineering education is multi-disciplinary, very exciting, and provides a tremendous edge in the job market; it is one of the best springboards to your future, whether you are a man or a woman. An average day in the life of an engineer might involve working in a team that is designing or improving products or manufacturing processes as well as performing project management to ensure that tasks are accomplished on time and within budget. You get to be creative, which is the fun part, you get to solve challenging problems and it’s a very people-oriented profession, much more than people are aware of. And if you have an entrepreneurial mind, you too can start your own company. Don’t look at engineering as only a specialized program – it’s very broad and can lead to endless opportunities.

as MODON, SAP, IKEA and Mobily, while others are awaiting to start graduate business studies in world-renowned universities overseas. For their part, this year’s senior industrial engineering students are all focused on productivity improvement, at a glass and mirror factory, at a major car dealership, at a kitchen factory, as well as at a restaurant. And as for the first electrical engineering cohort, their capstone projects include designing and implementation of a fire alarm vehicle, development of wireless power transfer, and implementation of an intelligent water level indicator system.

Wide choice of engineering majors: • Architectural engineering • Electrical engineering • Industrial engineering • Mechanical engineering • Software engineering

August 2013

Magazine

Students and Professor Colyn Davies in the Technical Writing (ENG222) course. Topics as varied as the Saudi Railway Network Expansion, Work Flow Analysis in Concrete Precasting, and Problems in Saudi Arabian Water Provision were exposed by the students. This is a vivid example of the convergence of disciplines, where the students had to rely upon their theoretical knowledge of basic science and engineering in order to understand contemporary technical challenges and then make a poster presentation to communicate their findings in a compelling fashion.

Industrial engineering students with Professor Abdallah Alrashdan visited King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in the IE307 (Work System Analysis & Design) class, fall 2012-13

The College of Engineering Advisory Board (CoE-AB), whose purpose it is to provide external advice to the dean regarding priorities, directions and strategies for engineering education at Alfaisal University, consists of the following highly distinguished individuals: Position

Company

Shaaf AlOsaym

Deputy Manager

Ma'aden

Basil AlSaleh

Administrative Services Advisor

KA-CARE

Saleh Al Agili

Director of the Solar Cluster Development in KSA

National Industrial Clusters Dev. Program

Ibrahim Al-Raqibah

Supply Chain Solution Manager

SABIC

Manie Al Khelewy

Managing Director

Saudi Advanced Services Co. (SAS)

Programs that are distinguished in the following ways:

Saif M. Mashat

Director, Public Services

SAP

Kamil Al-Khudairy

IT Development Manager

Arriyadh Development Authority

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Najat Yassin Abu-Haliya

Chair of IEEE Women in Engineering Saudi Section (East)

Saudi Aramco

Abdulaziz Al-Noghaither

General Manager

Intel Saudi Arabia

Prof. Saleh Alawaji

Deputy Minister for Electricity

Ministry of Water and Electricity

Germain Da Silva

Engineering Director

Thales Security Solutions & Services Co.

Moinul Haque

Human Resources

Tata Consultancy Services Saudi Arabia

Mohamed Maher Al-Masry

Chief Operating Officer

ABB Saudi Arabia Group Management

They were originally conceived by a joint MIT-Cambridge advisory committee, ensuring that they meet the highest international standards. We maintain dynamic relations with several reputable universities abroad. For instance, we have a Memorandum of Understanding and a Memorandum of Agreement with Queen’s University Belfast, under which three of our students have completed the senior year of their engineering degree there.

•

Small class sizes and student/teacher ratio.

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Student-centered pedagogy, allowing the students to freely access any faculty member.

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Faculty members are Western educated in highly reputable institutions and are distinguished researchers

Saudi Aramco has recently awarded to researchers in the College of Engineering three research grants, namely: Nano-composite carbide coatings for wear resistant applications Advance anode materials for direct hydrocarbon proton conducting solid fuel cell (PC-SOFC) in auxiliary power units Wear behaviour characterization of Stellite alloys using computational modelling. It is noteworthy that one of our engineering graduates is currently working as a research assistant on those projects.

Exciting hands-on student projects All engineering students at Alfaisal University undertake a capstone project in their final year which involves studying and solving a substantial practical engineering project. Last year, the first engineering cohort did an outstanding job, with projects such as process improvement at a pipes and pumps factory for irrigation systems, capacity expansion planning at a furniture factory, along with the analysis of a garments production line. It is noteworthy that the vast majority of these students are now almost all employed in Saudi Arabia, at prestigious organizations such

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Architectural Engineering students in course ARE231 (Building Materials and Construction Technology), spring 2012-13

Modern facilities

A Manufacturing Workshop and a Thermal Science Lab were inaugurated in the spring 2012-13 semester. We are also continually expanding our lab facilities.

Why study engineering at Alfaisal University?

ng. Xavier Fouger, Senior Director of Global Learning at Dassault Systemes, was invited as a featured speaker at the College of Engineering Open House on December 11, 2012. He gave a talk entitled “Digital Engineering for Exciting Employment in All Industries”. He pointed out that most products in our daily lives have been designed digitally by engineers. Not just cars, space rockets, ships, smart phones and airplanes. Your refrigerator, your shampoo bottle, your jewelry, the layout of supermarkets, the operating room of your hospital, prosthesis inside human bodies, even human hairs are designed using 3D computer models. Engineering jobs are now evolving to provide digital innovation in all industries and the presentation provided a broad panoramic view of these exciting opportunities, featuring inspiring examples from all over the world.

•

Engineering

The Alfaisal Renewable Energy Research Group (AREG), a collaborative multi-disciplinary research endeavor, was created in order to address one of Saudi Arabia’s strategic research areas. Capitalizing synergistically on the rich diversity in expertise of our faculty and resources, the first research project tackles solar adsorption and photovoltaics.

Name

We welcome the following two new faculty members in architectural engineering: Tarek Mokhtar earned his Ph.D. in Planning, Design and the Built Environment at Clemson University, USA. He is an Executive Editor of the Journal of Architectural Engineering Technology (JAET), while his research focuses on “Architectural Robotics,” “Human-Robotic Interaction”, “Architectural Materials + Systems” and “Intelligent Environments”. Aliaa Elabd obtained her Ph.D. in Design from North Carolina State University, USA. Her research is focused on central city revitalization, particularly regenerating urban neighborhoods through integrating the physical and social aspects of the built environment. • Active research programs in which students can participate We congratulate Dr. Nidal Nasser, Associate Professor and Director of Electrical and Software Engineering programs, for receiving the Best Paper Award with Prof. Hossam Hassanein and Mr. Michael Liu (Queen’s University, Canada) for their paper “Heuristic Based Dynamic Spectrum Assignment in Cognitive Radio Network” at the International Conference on Computing, Management and Telecommunications (ComManTel 2013), held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Magazine

August 2013

College of

Business

College of

Business

enrichment with a stop at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. This architectural work of art is one the world’s largest mosques, with a capacity for an astonishing 41,000 worshippers. It features 82 domes, over a 1,000 columns, 24 carat gold gilded chandeliers and the world's largest hand knotted carpet. The main prayer hall is dominated by one of the world’s largest chandeliers –10 metres in diameter, 15 metres in height and weighing twelve tonnes. The mosque's first ceremony was the funeral of its namesake, Sheikh Zayed, who is buried at the site. Students were asked to keep individual notes, rotating groups of 2-3 students were responsible for providing feedback on each event, which was then discussed with Dr Mario.

Executive Lecture Series College of Business Executive Lecture Series has provided Alfaisal University students and guests from the business community the opportunity to learn from some of the country's leading executives as they talk about their careers and leadership experiences. Students in the College of Business enroll in the Executive Lecture Series as part of their business elective course. All lectures are free and open to the public. Here are some sample speakers and topics in the Executive Lecture Series conducted in the past:

UAE Field Trip April 16-18, 2013

rom April 16-18, 2013, the College of Business conducted a student field trip to the Port of Dubai (Jebel Ali) and the Masdar Institute. Attendees included 13 students from the Principles of Logistics & Supply chain management and Principles of Management classes and Dr. Mario Ferrer.

COB field trips allow students to explore their interest in supply chain and management by learning more about world-class practices. Students have the opportunity to find out more about what global port operators do through hands-on experiences with logistics professionals. Several activities took place during the field trip. Participants were given a tour of the container cargo facilities of Jebel Ali Port (female students on April 17 and male students on April 18). At Jebel Ali port students were exposed to one of the most modern ports in the region. Jebel Ali is fully equipped to meet the needs of local and international land transportation. It is a technologically advanced facility, employing state-of-the-art equipment, including the world's largest gantry cranes capable of lifting four 20 foot containers, or two 40 foot containers simultaneously- a total capacity of 80 tonnes, twice that of traditional cranes. These equipment enable the port to cater to the new generation of mega-ships (14,000 + TEU). Likewise, students had the opportunity to tour the Jebel Ali free zone which currently houses more than 6,000 companies

August 2013

Magazine

Speaker Dr. Badr Albadr (Saudi Hotels and Resorts) Mr. Patrick VanDaele (Shell) active in manufacturing, trade, logistics and a range of industrial and service-orientated sectors. Companies located in the zone enjoy access to Jebel Ali's first-class port facilities and the privileges of the free zone. Participants (Female students only on April 17) then travelled from Dubai to Abu Dhabi to learn about the sustainable businesses and alternative energy research being done at the Masdar Institute. World-class universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) collaborate with Masdar in three areas: waterenergy nexus, clean energy policy with focus on the Middle East/ North Africa region, and energy access in developing countries. Students took a tour inside Masdar on the podcars prototypes. Podcars are part of a driverless fleet of 13 free-moving, electric vehicles that could transport 2 to 6 passengers between two stations, tallying up to 500 trips a day along preprogrammed routes. The air-conditioned vehicles have a maximum speed of 40 km/h and run on a lithium-phosphate battery, which can last up to 60 km on a 1.5-hour charge, or between 30 to 40 trips, before making quick stops at a terminal for recharge, or parking overnight for a full recharge. This system of podcars is basically a replacement for taxis, providing privacy to passengers without the congestion common in other urban centers. A wi-fi network manoeuvres the podcars through obstacles in real time as magnets along the path continuously pull the vehicle into alignment with little variance: if one is missed, the podcar continues but if two are missed, it comes to a stop. The podcars are powered by solar panel arrays on top of buildings and thermal energy-storing molten salt technology allowing the vehicles to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The field trip also offered an opportunity for prayer and spiritual

Topic

Mr. Herman DeBode (Mckinsey)

"The suite life of hoteliers" "The journey towards future energy" “Perspectives on Saudi Arabia”

Dr. Fahad Al-Said (Alakaria Company)

"The other Side of the fence your employer expectations from you"

Internships At the College of Business, it is our policy to provide students with a highquality real-world experience by enabling them to apply for and take up extended internship work placements with selected external partner companies. These internship placements allow students to benefit from deploying, displaying and further developing relevant skills and capabilities required for job success and career advancement within their particular areas of interest and expertise. The internship program is designed to provide business students with practical, on-the-job experiences which can contribute to their academic and career development. The internship will help students a great deal in their future career. Internship placements will normally last 4 months and represent six (6) Credits towards the final degree qualification. Successful completion of an internship placement will contribute significantly towards the award of a degree qualification. Organizations and companies that have hired our student interns in 2013 include: Jones Lang LaSalle KPMG Ernst & Young BAE Systems Kingdom Hospital Capital Market Authority Al Faisaliah Group (AFG) Rosewood Hotels Abu Dhabi ING Investment Management Middle East Samba Financial Group

Mr. Ibrahim AlGadah Alfaisal University MBA Graduate (2012-13) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aloula Geojit Capital

Interview with MBA Graduate 2012-13 Can you please tell us about yourself and professional background? I am the CEO of Aloula Geojit Capital. I have 23 years of professional experience in investment and management. I hold BA in Economics. I started working while studying and I am always looking to close the gap in my weakness by learning new methods and theories. My specialty is innovation in new investment products. What does your company do? Aloula Geojit Capital is Brokerage Firm authorized by the Capital market authority and Tadawul (the Saudi exchange). We execute client orders and manage their portfolios in real-estate in the Saudi Stock market. We offer investment advice and arrange partners for companies. In your opinion, what are the challenges that are facing the Saudi Economy? The challenge is finding new investment products rather than relying on oil. It is to ensure the continuity of growth of the economy with access to transparent and accurate economic data, and to support investors so that they can make their decisions based on this data. How did Alfaisal University MBA help you? I have learned new theories of marketing, management and leadership and how to make sound decisions based on financial reports. I also have learned new leadership style and strategies that helped me to reposition my company. It has enabled me to change my organizational behavior to be more successful in my career. What should Alfaisal University MBA students focus on? They have to utilize the library at Alfaisal University and practice the theories they learn. Students have to focus on consulting with the professors at Alfaisal University to get clear ideas on the materials so that they can benefit more from their education at Alfaisal University.

Magazine

August 2013

College of

Business

Saudi Arabia Monetary Agency Headquarters Field Trip Students studying macroeconomics at the College of Business had the unique opportunity to visit the Saudi Arabia Monetary Agency (SAMA) Headquarters in Riyadh. Students had been learning about monetary policy and its effect on the Saudi economy. SAMA also hosts a money museum with one of the largest collections of ancient coins in the world. SAMA officials provided a tour and answered questions about the history of central banking in the Kingdom. “It was a special experience for our 84 students to see the exhibits and learn about the Saudi money system,” noted Dr. Gale Pooley, the class instructor. “We are fortunate to be located in the heart of Riyadh where we can visit these important Saudi institutions.” Students also learned how to use SAMA’s website, www.sama.gov.sa. “SAMA is a great source for current and accurate data on the Saudi economy” Pooley said. “We use the website in class all of the time.” The macroeconomics course is required for all business majors. This course helps students understand such concepts as GDP, inflation, and the money. “Our hope is that all of our students will be able to make positive contributions to the Saudi economy by understanding economics better,” observed Dr. Pooley. “Someday, one of our students may have a leadership role at SAMA.” Another great benefit at Alfaisal University is the network of students with Saudi Arabia’s leaders. The tour was actually arranged by one of the students, Fahad Abdulaziz AlAshaikh. “Fahad really added value to the classroom experience by working to make the tour a success” Pooley said. “Students at Alfaisal can add so much with their friendships with government and industry leaders. I don’t think any other university in Riyadh has such a strong network.” Dr. Gale Pooley intends to make the SAMA experience and annual event for his macroeconomic class.

Senior USA Executive Lecture On March 10, 2013 AlFaisal University welcomed three prominent executives on a private visit to the Kingdom to the College of Business. The visitors included a Superintendent of the Federal Reserve of New York, Recently retired Head of Operations at Xerox Inc., and Head of Legal Department at CBS News. The executives were provided a tour of the University campus, a showcase of Architecture in Riyadh and then they were escorted to classes where each guest spoke to the class in their area of expertise. Ms. Diane Taylor, spoke to a joint Finance class on ACCION International, a micro financing organization of which she is the chair of the Board of Directors. Ms. Taylor is Managing Director of Wolfensohn and Company, a strategic consulting and investment firm. She previously was New York State superintendent of banks and the chairwoman of the New York State Banking Board. She serves as a director of Citigroup, Dartmouth College, and Sotheby’s. Marie Boies , lectured to a crowded business law class. Marie is founding and named partner of law firm, Boies and McInnis, specializing in corporate

August 2013

Magazine

commercial litigation. She is a former VP and member of the law department at CBS, she served as General Counsel of the US Civil Aeronautics Board, and was appointed as Assistant Director of the White House Domestic Policy Staff. She is currently a member of the Dean’s Council for the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations. She is a triathlete, finishing first in her category at the Napa Sprint Triathlon in 2012. And finally Patricia (Tosh) Barron explained to the students in Dr Mario Ferrer s Operations Management class the importance of quality communication within operations. Patricia was VP of Business Operations at Xerox and President of Engineering Systems at Xerox. She serves on the Board of Teleflex, Quaker Chemical Corporation, and United Services Automobile Association. She was a clinical professor at the New York University Stern Business School. Afterwards the executive joined AlFaisal women students and Saudi. Businesswomen for a light buffet lunch and networking session Business cards were exchanged and a discussion of issues and experiences faced by the executive and the Saudi businesswomen. The Saudi women included HRH Reema Bandar bin Sultan, CEO Harvey Nichols , Authug AlShehail , Founder of Prime Legal Support, a law firm with 40 employees and operations in New York and London. Dr. Yasmine Twaigiri, Founder of Women Scientists Saudi Arabia, and Head of Epidemiology at KFSH and currently heading a national survey in association with Harvard University , Deema AlMashabi , the first Saudi Reporter for Bloomberg News , Abeer AlFouti, Head of training at Prince Salman Humanitarian center, Manal Al Rashed – Head of internal audit at MARCO Construction company, Mai Al Taifi , Risk Manager at Saudi Hollandi Bank , Aida Adnan- Owner of My Little School, Mona Shehab, from KFSH and also one of the women who climbed Kilimanjaro and Mount Everest and members of the BSA executives.

College of Business and Institute of Management Accountant New Partnership AlFaisal University partners with the Institute of Management Accountants , Montvale , New Jersey in offering CMA Certification Preparatory courses After a visit to the AlFaisal campus by John C. Macaulay,CMA Chair of the IMA in the fall of 2012, Alfaisal University Executive Education began offering the CMA Exam Preparation course. During his visit to the campus , Mr. John Macaulay met with the Dean and Faculty of the CoB and select members and students of the IMA- Riyadh Chapter . They discussed issues of expanding the services of the IMA in the region and the dire need for more professional accountants in the Kingdom. CMAs in attendance work for a variety of organizations in Riyadh including Ministry of Health, Riyadh Bank, SIDF, and NAS Airline.

College of

The IMA is recognized as the leading licensing body for CMA certification in the USA and around the globe. The IMA has over 60,000 members worldwide and has over 900 chapters. IMA’s mission is to provide a forum for research, practice development, education, knowledge sharing, and the advocacy of the highest ethical and best business practices in management accounting and finance.

Business

KPMG: Mr. Mahmood Kazaal - Outstanding Research Award Sponsered by Shell: Not announced yet

New Advisory Board members 2012-13:

The course at Al Faisal University is taught two nights a week. A CMA exam Part II course will be run in the fall. The 16 week CMA Prep course prepares the student to sit for the professional exam which is offered two time periods a year. The two part exam is required for those seeking to be recognized as professional management accountants.

Alfaisal College of Business and SAGIAs’ Partnership with the World Economic Forum (WEF)

n its efforts to develop and improve effective foundation for business investments in the Kingdom, the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) and Alfaisal University agreed to set up a partnership with the World Economic Forum (WEF). In alignment with the formal WEF’s methodology, Dr. Mohammed Kafaji proposed a systematic approach to gather and analyze survey data. The approach was accepted by SAGIA and the project was awarded to Alfaisal University. Dr. Kafaji then led a project to conduct the executive opinion survey of selected business executives in the Saudi market to evaluate the degree at which the business environment is suitable for investment. The project requires extensive collaboration with the management at SAGIA, multiple site visits across the kingdom, application of WEF methodology, management of logistics, and communication with WEF through their on-line system. After three months of rigorous data gathering work, the project was successfully completed on 8th May 2013. The findings of this project will be evaluated by WEF, benchmarked, and published in the Global Competitiveness Report for 2013-2014.

HRH Prince Saud bin Khalid Alfaisal the Deputy Governor for investment affairs of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA).[3] He heads the Investment Affairs department, which is responsible for managing the investment environment and competitiveness agenda of Saudi Arabia. The Investment Affairs Department has focused on establishing more liberal investment conditions in the Kingdom. Dr. Florence Eid, formerly Head of MENA research at JP Morgan, is the Founder and Chief Economist of Arabia Monitor. She has been Professor of Economics and Finance at the American University of Beirut and visiting professor at INSEAD and HEC Paris. Dr. Eid holds a Ph.D. in Organization Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

New faculty members 2012-13: Dr. Alwathnani received his Ph.D. in Accounting with a minor in Finance from the School of Business at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 2006. His Ph.D. dissertation entitled “Do investors overreact to patterns of firms’ past financial performance measures?” He holds a Master degree in Accounting with Banking and Finance concentration from Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University of Cleveland, OH, 1999.

Faculty and Staff Advisory Board Awards 2012-13

Dr. Jason MacDonald is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Alfaisal. His main teaching areas are marketing strategy and Internet marketing. He was previously a professor at Boise State in the United States but has also worked/taught in Italy, Mexico, Canada, and Poland. Dr. MacDonald holds a Ph.D. in International Business and Marketing from the University of Texas – Pan American.

On May 20th, the Advisory Board has announced the Awards for the faculty and staff at the College of Business: - Outstanding Faculty Service awards sponsored by Amwal Alkhaleej: Dr. Nicholas Forster and Dr. Ricardo Santa - Outstanding Service Staff Award Sponsered by Bank Aljazira: Mr. Mohammed Talal Al-Samman - Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award Sponserd by Alfaisaliah Group: Dr. Daniel W. Lund -Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award Sponsered by

expert.

Dr. Francosi Bester has a PhD in Human Resources Management from the University of Johannesburg. Dr. Bester led various consulting projects in a wide selection of organizations for the past 25 years. He is a human performance improvement and organisational development

Magazine

August 2013

Medicine Alfaisal Medical Corona Virus Students Top Nation

College of

Medicine

College of

Wide Progress Tests

Investigations are underway to determine the source of the virus, the types of exposure that lead to infection, the mode of transmission, and the clinical pattern and course of disease.

lfaisal medical students from all batches (year 1 to year 5) took a nationwide progress test together with 11 other medical schools in the kingdom and ranked the highest out of all. It was also confirmed that 6 out of the top ten students in the Kingdom are Alfaisal/COM students.

Over the past year multiple clusters of cases in which human-to-

Dean of College of Medicine Dr. Khaled Al Kattan stated:“ It is amazing to see that our top achiever in Year-1 scored 27.95 (national average 6.71), Year 2 top achiever scored 47.24 (national average 10.91), Year 3 top achiever scored 55.73 (national average 18.41), Year 4 Top achiever scored 80.35 (national average 22.54), and Year 5 top achiever scored 88.50 (national average 36.71)”.

Unfortunately, to date, there is no specific treatment for the disease

Progress testing (PT) is a comprehensive knowledge longitudinal testing approach which assesses the end of curriculum objectives (at graduation) of undergraduate medical training across all medical disciplines. It has been used in medical education for over 30 years, both in McMaster University in Canada and Maastricht University in the Netherlands. Many of the Western Universities are adopting progress testing.

Exactly how people become infected with this virus is not known. Since

With progress testing, the entire student population of a medical school sits for the same test at the same time. The medical school at Al Qassem University has utilized its partnership with the Maastricht University to prepare the progress test. Many medical colleges in the kingdom contributed to the preparation of the test. Also, some of the Year 2 students have scored more than the national average for the final year students, and many of our 3rd year medical students scored higher than many of the 5th year medical students in other medical schools. More interestingly 27 out of 35 students of the graduating batch have scored above the national average which is 36.71. The cumulative average of these students is 55.74, which is way above the national average. Alfaisal’s average in all years is showing an upward trend (almost doubling every year): 8.49% (first Year), 16.20 (second Year), 29.0 (third year), 34.47 (fourth year), and 48.77 (fifth year). This shows that there is continuous improvement in their learning experience over the five years of the curriculum (This is not true for all the medical colleges who appeared in this test). A hearty Congratulation on this tremendous accomplishment and outstanding performance of Alfaisal medical students!

human transmission is either strongly suspected or confirmed. These have all occurred either in a health care facility or among close family members. However, the mechanism by which transmission occurred in all of these cases, whether respiratory (e.g. coughing, sneezing) or contact (contamination of the environment by the patient), is unknown. caused by MERS-CoV and treatment should be based on the patient’s symptoms, since no vaccine is available.

Preventative Strategies: neither the source of the virus nor the mode of transmission is known, it is not possible to give specific advice on prevention of infection.

Dr. Ziad Ahmad Memish and Dr. Atef Shibil present an update on the Corona virus, now known as MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory

Syndrome Coronavirus)

Dr. Ziad Ahmad Memish, Assistant Deputy Minister of Health for Preventive Medicine and Professor of Medicine at Alfaisal university stated, “Globally, from September 2012 to date, WHO has been informed of a total of 44 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including 22 deaths. WHO has received reports of laboratory-confirmed cases from the following countries in the Middle East: Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).” He went on to add “ France, Germany, Tunisia and the United Kingdom also reported laboratory-confirmed cases; they were either transferred for care of the disease or returned from Middle East and subsequently became ill. In France, Tunisia and the United Kingdom, there has been limited local transmission among close contacts that had not been to the Middle East but had been in close contact with the laboratory-

confirmed or probable cases. How widespread this virus may be is still orona viruses are a large family of viruses that includes

unknown. Currently, WHO encourages all countries to continue to closely

viruses that may cause a range of illnesses in humans, from

monitor for severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and to carefully review

the common cold to SARS. Viruses of this family also cause a

any unusual patterns of SARI or pneumonia.”

number of animal diseases. Common symptoms in patients with MERS-CoV are acute, serious respiratory

Novel coronavirus, which is now officially termed MERS-CoV (Middle East

illness with fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties.

Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus) is a particular strain of coronavirus

Most patients have had pneumonia. Many have also had gastrointestinal

that has not been previously identified in humans. There is very limited

symptoms, including diarrhea. Some patients have had kidney failure. About

information on transmission, severity and clinical impact with only a small

half of people infected with MERS-CoV have died. In people with immune

number of cases reported thus far.

deficiencies, the disease may have an atypical presentation. It is important to note that the current understanding of illness caused by this infection is based on only a few cases and may change as we learn more about the virus.

To date it’s not yet known how people become infected with this virus.

August 2013

Magazine

However, prudent measures to prevent respiratory illness are to avoid close contact, when possible, with anyone who shows symptoms of illness (coughing and sneezing), and to maintain good hand hygiene. Other good preventive measures include avoiding uncooked or undercooked meats, unwashed fruits or vegetables, and drinks made without sterilised water. If you become sick while travelling, you should avoid close contact with other people while you are symptomatic, and use good respiratory hygiene, such as coughing or sneezing into a sleeve or flexed elbow, medical mask, or tissue, and throwing used tissues into a closed bin immediately after use. Health care providers are advised to maintain vigilance. Recent travellers returning from the Middle East who develop SARI should be tested for MERS-CoV as advised in the current surveillance recommendations. Specimens from patients’ lower respiratory tracts should be obtained for diagnosis where possible. Clinicians are reminded that MERS-CoV infection should be considered even with atypical signs and symptoms, such as diarrhoea, in patients who are immunocompromised. Health care facilities are reminded of the importance of systematic implementation of infection prevention and control (IPC). Health care facilities that provide care for patients suspected or confirmed with MERS-CoV infection should take appropriate measures to decrease the risk of transmission of the virus to other patients, health care workers, and visitors.

Magazine

August 2013

College of

Medicine

College of Chapter 4 How do we teach anatomy? Use of team-based learning strategy Nagaswami S. Vasan and David O. DeFouw, Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey, USA Chapter 5 New horizons in medical education technology Volodymyr Mavrych and Olena Bolgova Department of Anatomy, St. Matthew’s University, School of Medicine, Grand Cayman Chapter 6 Anatomical education-gross anatomy (Part 1) Stuart W. McDonald, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom Chapter 7 Anatomical education-gross anatomy (Part 2) K Rajendran, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University Health System, Singapore

Education in Anatomical Sciences: A Light House of Alfaisal University for the World of Medical Education Paul Ganguly, MBBS, MD, FACA Professor and Chairman of Anatomy College of Medicine Alfaisal University

What is this book all about?

he discipline of anatomy has indeed a pivotal influence

on the history of medicine as it serves almost as the language of medicine. This concept has not been changed till today but the modalities that we use to understand the subject have been significantly changed. The book “Education in Anatomical Sciences” (Nova Science Publisher) is unique as the essential contents are put together allowing one to browse through anatomical knowledge on a daily basis. It should also satisfy anyone who believes that medical faculty must follow a system which is educationally sound. Developing an excellent anatomy curriculum, assessment system, and anatomy resource center are key to success that will allow us to address “how do we teach anatomy?” If we have to continue teaching an important subject such as anatomy to the medical students, we must be innovative in terms of our approach of teaching in the presence of decreased contact hours to fulfill the curricular need of more integration. The book will target medical educationists and students who may find it easier to develop concepts in gross anatomy, embryology, histology, and neuroanatomy. Since planning for learning experiences, their implementation and student assessment are closely related activities, care is taken to develop a process for clinically-oriented multiple choice question in anatomy that satisfies the theme and objectives of anatomy. The issues related to laboratory activities have been also addressed so as to emphasize objective-structured practical

August 2013

Magazine

examination that is integrated and clinically relevant during the early period of medical curriculum. The students’ perception has been brought to our attention and given a great importance as they grow from early period to clerkship phase. The book for the first time addresses education in anatomy and deserves to be valued greatly in medical schools engaged in problem-based learning or integrated systems curriculum. What are the contents of the book?

Preface

Khaled Al-Kattan, Wael Al-Kattan, College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Chapter 1 Anatomical education in the past: lessons from history Paul Ganguly, College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Chapter 2 Why do we need changes? Anatomy in the 21st century Jennifer M. McBride and Richard L. Drake, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, USA Chapter 3 Key issues in developing anatomy curriculum Akef Obeidat, College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Chapter 8 Anatomical education-histology Cell Biology/Histology can be the Facilitator for Integrating Biomedical Sciences in the Medical Curriculum Bernhard H.J. Juurlink, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Chapter 9 Anatomical education-embryology Integrating clinically oriented embryology into an organ systems-based curriculum Michael J. Rindler, Department of Cell Biology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, USA Chapter 10 Anatomical education-neuroanatomy An evolving curriculum caters towards patient care Ahmed Yaqinuddin, Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Al Faisal University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Chapter 11 Issues concerning Anatomy in PBL Manoj Chakravarty, College of Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Chapter 12 Innovation in anatomy teaching Claudia M. Diaz, RMIT University, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC, Australia Chapter 13 An Anatomy Learning Resource Centre: What should it look like and what should it ideally achieve? Paul G McMenamin and Colin McHenry, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, Australia Chapter 14 What is the best assessment system in anatomy? Sabri Kemahli, Aftab Ahmed Shaikh, Tasneem Fatima, Muhammad Atif Mazhar, Sadia Qazi and Paul Ganguly, College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Medicine

Chapter 15 Writing Good MCQs Raja G. Subhiyah and M. Brownell Anderson, National Board of Medical Examiners 3750 Market Street, Philadelphia, USA Chapter 16 Practical examinations-OSPE, OSCE and SPOT Muhammad Zafar, Ahmed Yaqinuddin, Faisal Ikram, Paul Ganguly College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Chapter 17 Education in Anatomy: Students’ Perception Abdulhadi A. AlAmodi, Ahmed M. Abu-Zaid, Akram M. Nurhussen, Ahmed A. Shamia, Tehreem A. Khan, Riya Ganguly, Matthew S. Lytwyn and Paul Ganguly, College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and St. Boniface Hospital Research Centre, Winnipeg, Canada

Why is this book so special?

The book is very special to us for a number of reasons. First, it is dedicated to Alfaisal University to support our beloved King Faisal’s vision. Second, the preface has been written by Dr. Khaled Al-Kattan, Dean and Dr. Wael Al Kattan, Director of Academic Affairs, College of Medicine. Third, it is edited in-house by Dr. Paul Ganguly, Professor and Chairman of Anatomy. Fourth, the chapters in this book are written by well-known international anatomists including the editor of Gray’s anatomy, Dr. Richard Derek. Fifth, many of the chapters have also been written by faculty in the college of medicine. Sixth, there is no book yet available to educators in the field of medicine which deals education in anatomical sciences and hence the book is the first of its kind. Seventh, the chapters are arranged in such a way that it addresses the core concept of medical education, how best can we teach anatomy? Eighth, this is the first book in medical education published from the College of Medicine. Ninth, the book is also published at a time when our first batch of students is graduating. Tenth, and finally, many of our senior students participated in writing a chapter on their perception thus proving that the University is also student-centered. In fact, a leading medical Educator and Editor of Guyton’s Medical Physiology, Dr. John Hall, writes to the student authors, “congratulations on a well written and thoughtful chapter. I enjoyed reading it and appreciate your sending it to me. You make some excellent points in the chapter, including the important role of students in improving medical education. The perspectives of students who have actually experienced the curriculum are especially valuable. I made just a couple of suggestions for minor changes (see attached). The overall flow of the chapter was excellent and will be a valuable addition to the medical education literature”. The book, published by one of the leading publishers in USA has clearly shown state-of-the-art modalities of medical education related to anatomy. We are confident that it will be well received, not only by regional medical schools but also by those world-wide. A concerted effort that has been put forward indicating a joint venture between Alfaisal faculty and International leaders in anatomy testifies the high caliber of our faculty in the College of Medicine. The book, Education in Anatomical Sciences, will undoubtedly serve the light house of Alfaisal University for the world of medical education that is in line with the vision and wish of Late King Faisal.

Magazine

August 2013

College of

Science & General Studies

Launching

Computer Science at Alfaisal University By: Dr. Elias Saleeby, Assistant Professor of Mathematics

omputer Science is mainly the study of the theory

by the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). The program

of computation and its many applications, such as

is built around a set of core courses that includes the fundamentals

networking, data security, software development,

of programming concepts, data structures, algorithms, operating

artificial intelligence, multimedia and graphics,

systems, web development, computer networks etc. The curriculum

controlling robots etc. Over the past two decades,

also includes essential courses in mathematics and physics – after-

the field of computer science has developed very rapidly and

all computer science is a mathematical science! Once the student

has penetrated and revolutionized other fields of study. Many

completes the core courses during the first five semesters of study, the

emerging new fields of study, such as bioinformatics and financial

student has the option to pursue one of two tracks of specialization.

engineering, owe a great deal to computer science and computer

One track is in security and net-centric computing, and the other is

technology.

in multimedia, graphics and visualization. The program requires a student to complete an internship during the summer of the third year.

Job Opportunities

The curriculum offers the student to take a good number of elective

As applications become more and more sophisticated, there

courses in computer science, and nine credit hours of electives in any

will be more and more demand for highly skilled computer

area(s) of interest to the student. This enables a student to prepare for

scientists. Computer scientists have a tremendous variety of job

immediate employment or further study at the graduate level.

opportunities. Graduates can design, implement, or manage computer software systems, as well as employ computers in new

The department is recruiting faculty members that are active

areas of application. They can also move easily into engineering,

in research and have some industrial experience. In this rapidly

business, education and other multidisciplinary fields. It is hard

developing field, faculty members are expected to keep up with the

to think of any other technological area that may offer more job

latest technology, latest software and other advances in their fields.

opportunities in the future than computer science. So please do

The department plans to support state of the art labs in computer

not miss the boat!

graphics and multimedia. By nature, applied computer science instruction tends to be more project-oriented. Senior students will

BS Program

be expected to work on a significant project in their final semester

The computer science program offered at Alfaisal is a rich one

under the supervision of a faculty member. This will give the student

and is equally rigorous to any program offered at most reputable

an opportunity to put together much of what was learned in different

North American universities. Of course, the program is not

courses, and to expose him/her to the research literature in the field.

meant to be a technical degree. It is intended to educate the

The student will be required to write up a comprehensive report

student and to give her/him a solid foundation that forms the

describing the problem, its background, the proposed solution, and

basis for a life-long of learning about computer science. It has

to present the results and conclusions of her/his research.

been designed to cover almost all areas of study recommended

August 2013

Magazine

Theoretical Computer Science: A Brief Background By: Dr. Elias Saleeby, Assistant Professor of Mathematics

n this short exposition, we will not be describing computers – we all have a good idea about what these devices are! We also know that the history of constructing mechanical computational devices is ancient and dates back to the Sumerians and the Ancient Greeks. The history of constructing the electronic computer is much more recent, but we will not be reporting on this interesting story now. Instead, we will attempt to give a quick survey about the origins of theoretical computer science. In a sense, this is the other side of the coin. The purpose is to give the reader a glimpse of the foundations of this science, and to point out that it is not merely the science of operating an electronic machine. To be brief, we start roughly around the end of the 19th century and end about the middle of the 20th century. As by then, one can say that the theoretical foundations of computer science has essentially been laid. The theory of computations is deeply rooted in the study of the fundamentals of mathematics, symbolic logic and analytic philosophy. Let us start with Gottlob Frege (1848-1925), a German mathematician, logician and philosopher, considered as the father of analytic philosophy. Drawing on the work of Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646 -1716), one of the greatest philosophers and mathematicians of all time, Frege’s goal was to carry out mathematical proofs in a purely logical way without any appeal to “intuition”. Any intuitive element was to be set as an axiom. In 1900, the German mathematician David Hilbert (1862-1943) presented a collection of 23 famous problems that in many ways were behind much of the mathematical research carried out in the 20th century. In his second problem, Hilbert was essentially seeking to extend Frege’s work to all of mathematics by proposing to formalize completely all mathematical reasoning using the precise language of symbolic logic. In other words, Hilbert sought to derive all mathematical statements from a precise set of fixed axioms in a finite number of steps. Recall that a number of axiomatic systems were developed long before, for example, those of Euclidean and projective geometries. In 1901, the British mathematician and philosopher, Bertrand Russell (18721970) discovered the Russell paradox, a paradox in naïve set theory which asks whether the set of all sets that are not members of themselves is a member of itself. This is often stated in a more popular form as: Does the barber in a town who shaves all men who do not shave themselves shave himself? The troubling answer is that he shaves himself if and only if he does not shave himself. This is very reminiscent of the old Greek paradox of Epimenides: This statement is false then it is true, and if it is true then it must be false. This is what is called a “self-referencing” statement. Apparently, about 1900, the German mathematician Ernst Zermelo (1871-1953), one of the architects of axiomatic set theory (Zermelo-Fraenkel axioms) that is commonly used now, and which avoids paradoxes such as that of Russell’s, also reportedly had discovered the Russell paradox and communicated it to Hilbert. About 1910, Russell along with Alfred Whitehead (1861-1947), a British mathematician and philosopher, co-authored the Principia Mathematica. This was one of the most "serious" with "comprehensive" attempts to develop mathematics from a fixed set of axioms.

In 1930-1932, Kurt Godel (1907-1968), an Austrian logician and mathematician, proved his two incompleteness theorems. He showed that Hilbert’s program cannot be carried out. Recall that an axiomatic system where a proposition can be proved to be either true or false is said to be complete. Using what is called Godel numbering to code formal expressions as natural numbers, Godel showed that Principia Mathematica itself can be thought of as a part of number theory and that there are statements about numbers, much like Epimenides’s statement, that are not provable in its system even though they could be true. Without going into further details, what Godel showed is that any formal axiomatic system that tries to capture the whole truth must be either incomplete or inconsistent. This discovery was somewhat shocking as it implied that mathematics incomplete! considered to be among the greatest theoretical findings of the 20th century. In 1936, the British computer scientist, Alan Turing (1912-1954), introduced the hypothetical Turing Machine (TM), which has a precise mathematical description, as a way to reformulate Godel’s mathematical work employing a very primitive machine language that is more flexible than the recursive theory employed by Godel. The TM can theoretically do any calculation a modern computer is able to do. In his analysis, Turing discovered the so called “Halting Problem”. To be brief, Turing arrived at the conclusion that it is not possible to know in advance whether a program will run forever or halts. His argument uses programs that run on a TM and has the same flavor as that described for the Epimenides statement and the Russell paradox. It can be summed up in the self-referencing statement: it is possible to create a program that halts if and only if does not halt. In the late 30’s, Konrad Zuse (1910-1995), a German civil engineer and computer scientist, built the first program-controlled computer called the Z3. The Z3 used relays, binary arithmetic and the bits of Leibniz and became functional in 1941. Later on Zuse went on to develop the first high-level computer language called Plankalkül. After relays, tubes were put to use, and later on by the middle of the 20th century, transistors became operational and fast switching became possible, and the new era of computer technology began. The last half of the 20th century has witnessed a rapid development in the theory of computing and many new topics such as Artificial Intelligence, Algorithmic Information Theory, Machine Learning, Theory of Randomness etc. are of great importance and interest today. If any of this topic seem interesting to you, then you should consider majoring in computer science. For further readings and references, you can for a start look at webpages in Wikipedia and then consult the references therein.

Magazine

August 2013

College of

Science & General Studies

“Evolution” of the Life Sciences Program By: Dr. Alexander Kouzmenko, Professor of Molecular Biology

he baccalaureate program in Life Sciences is currently in its third year. By this time, we realized that there was an apparent misconception among potential students and general Saudi society about the meaning of “life sciences” as an abstract and non-practical field of professional specialization with low prestige and problematic prospects of employment. To address this unfounded misperception, we have proposed to rename the program as Biomedical Sciences, because this would more adequately reflect the actual focus and content of the current program. The term "biomedical sciences” refers to a particular range of disciplines of the modern life sciences with specific concentration on molecular and cellular processes in the human organism in health and disease, whereas the term “life sciences” implies broader and less specific subject connotations that appear to cause a great deal of confusion. What makes our program unique in the context of Saudi Arabia is the emphasis on undergraduate research, and we have designed our curriculum to enable fourth year students to dedicate up to 80% of their time to research. The College is establishing cooperation with academics at the KFSH&RC and other leading national research hospitals to provide opportunities for our senior students to conduct experimental research projects there. We also endeavor to develop research and teaching cooperation with universities and research institutions in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America.

August 2013

Magazine

Plans to start Geoengineering Research at Alfaisal University By: Dr. Hisham Abad

rofessor Hisham Abad is forming a physics team to start scientific research in the field of Geoengineering, a relatively new branch of atmospheric physics which explores the possibility of positively changing Earth’s climate by intentional human intervention. The team includes Mr. Shanawaz Ahmed, and Mr. Majdi Khasawneh. We are also in the process of recruiting a post doctor to join the research team. Due to the very large scale of the phenomena under study, and the great potential danger of conducting actual experiments on Earth’s atmosphere, all such studies in the world are conducted numerically on very powerful computers. The only exception is the infamous “experiment” conducted by the injection of large quantities of CO2 in the atmosphere, which created the problem of global warming. It is thus not surprising that most research in this field is aimed at the mitigation and resolution of this problem. The ideas under study are generally divided into two groups: the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere, and the management of solar radiation reaching the surface of Earth. Usually the research done includes the theoretical change of a certain parameter of the processes affecting the various functions of the atmosphere, and then calculating the effect of such changes. An example is the theoretical modification of the reflectivity of a large tract of land, and then computing the effect on the atmosphere. To conduct the required numerical simulations, Alfaisal purchased a scalable large computer consisting of 128 processors. While not a “super computer,” this computer (called Toofan) is adequate to commence our studies on local weather. Such studies require greatly reduced computational power compared to full scale climate simulation programs, but are very useful for the study of local phenomena. Shown in the picture is Mr. Shanawaz Ahmad standing in front of Toofan. He single handedly installed and configured the computer for the parallel-computations programs required for our studies.

Chemistry Research Laboratory By: Dr. Edreese H. Alsharaeh, Associate Professor of Chemistry

y research interests are in the general areas of

Life sciences program, who recently delivered a presentation at the

Nanocomposite Materials Containing Nanoparticles

245th national meeting of the American Chemical Society (www.acs.

and Graphene sheets. Graphene (GR) is the thinnest

org), entitled “Synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial activity of

two-dimensional graphitic carbon material known,

Graphene Sheets containing Silver Nanoparticles”. The major findings

being one atom in thickness. GR has recently attracted much interest

of Khaled’s research project are as follows: (i) Silver Nanoparticles and

as a filler for the development of new nanocomposite materials. Its

graphene sheets containing Silver Nanoparticles have similar effect

extraordinary structural, mechanical, thermal, optical, and electrical

on E-coli compared to the conventional chemical antibacterial agents;

properties make GR an excellent two-dimensional filler material for

(ii) they are easy to collect after water treatment process finished; (iii)

polymer nanocomposite and for applications in many technological

their antibacterial activity remains constant; and (iv) Graphene oxide

fields. The major goal is to gain insights as to how the properties of

(GO) is available in huge quantities. These features enable them to

matter evolve as the size of a material system ranges from molecular to

prevent bacterial growth in water filtration membrane as well as

macroscopic dimensions.

in reactors and pipelines used in water treatment and distribution. The ongoing research involves a variety of experimental techniques,

One of my aims is to encourage involvement of undergraduate

Microwave irradiation Synthesis (MWI), Scanning Electron Microscope

students in my research activities. In relation to this, I have engaged in

(SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD),

collaborative research with Khaled bin Bander, graduating senior in the

Infrared Spectroscopy (IR), and Ultraviolet absorption Technique UV-VIS.

Magazine

August 2013

Student

Affairs

We invest in you too, through Alfaisal Scholarship Programs

The Art Gallery tudent Affairs and the Social & Development Committee (SDC) hosted, on May 13-14, in the College of Science ground floor area, the first annual Silent Auction Art Gallery "Bridging Generations." A theme highlighting the talents passed down between generations, their differences, and the importance of bridging the gap between the elderly and the young. All proceeds raised will be donated to elderly support homes. Conceptualized and organized by students with a passion for the arts, the art gallery showed the talents of Alfaisal students, and

guest artists from the community. The Artists who participated in that Art Gallery were Asma Tariq, Aisha Yun, Khalid Alamri, Waleed Marhoom,

lfaisal Undergraduate Saudi students' tuition is

2. Financial Assistance (Need-based)

now covered (100%) and Graduate Saudi students'

This type of assistance is granted to students with financial difficulties;

tuition is covered (94%) in combination with

contingent upon fulfilment of the eligibility criteria initiated by the

Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) scholarship's

University that combines the family financial need and the students'

program, if applicable.

academic achievements.

Scholarship for Non-Saudi Students: 1. Merit-based Scholarships This type of scholarship is awarded academically to outstanding

Ayman Zedani , Ghada Aljbreen, Hind Saad and Fida Alhussan. They participated through their unique art pieces, which were displayed to the

students. It only covers part of the tuition fee (30%).

audience, who show appreciation for such works, and bought some of them. The Art Gallery was conducted on two days, one for males and

Application Process:

one for females. All attendants and participants interacted to exchange cultures and recent movements in today's art field.

• Merit Scholarships are now automatic, there is no scholarship application. A student needs to get accepted into Alfaisal and

Artworks represented a wide variety of forms such as sketches, graphic designs, paintings, sculptures, photography, and much more. Extracurricular activities are considered part of the services the Student Affairs department offers. It aims at focusing on the individual student level, the institutional level, and the broader community level. These activities are there to complement the university's academic curriculum. Extracurricular activities enable students to become involved and to interact with other students, thus leading to increased learning and enhanced development.

confirm his/her acceptance. • If the student fulfils the scholarship criteria, he/she will be nominated for a scholarship. • Only the top students will be awarded, based on the fund availability. • Merit Based covers 30% out from the Tuition fees.

August 2013

Magazine

Application Process: • Need based scholarship depend on having a Merit Based scholarship; it's an additional 10% coverage. • The student must check the box (I would like to apply for a need-based Scholarship) located in the online application under Scholarship, and fill/Upload the required fields to be nominated for a Need-Based Scholarship.

3. Alfaisal Scholarship granting method: • All students are grouped and sorted by their scores • Those who met the criteria are flagged. • Those who met the Need-Based criteria will be flagged. The scholarship will be distributed among those who are flagged, starting from the top http://admissions.alfaisal.edu/scholarships.html

Magazine

August 2013

Marketing &

Public Relations

Marketing &

Public Relations

Orphan Day at Alfaisal University Saphia Ikram

Provost & administration engage in dialogue with students. Saphia Ikram

lfaisal University, in conjunction with “Ensan Association” hosted a fun day for 70 orphan boys as part of its efforts to inculcate notions of social responsibility among students. The Orphan fun day which took place on the grounds of the Late King Faisal’s Palace, AU campus on Thursday, 21st February 2013. Children (boys) ranging from 7 – 10 years of age from Ensan spent a fun-filled day with us, partaking in different activities, like football, frisbee, painting, the jumping castle, entertainment from a clown & magician, and even face painting. McDonalds the sponsor of this event provided us with all entertainment, food and an unforgettable afternoon for the children. We received an overwhelming response from our students on the announcement this event and received more than 40 volunteers helping with games, organization and putting smiles on the children’s faces.

All of these interactive offerings are geared to improve communication, promote community community building, and provide meaningful listening opportunities to ensure the University’s continual improvement. Provost Faisal Al Mubarak, hosted The Provost’s Coffee Break for the first time on Saturday 6th April for male students and students came to talk with him on academic issues. Various topics that were discussed included scheduling, student activities, students outreach experiences, financial aid and student representation, while he also received many positive comments about students’ academic experiences. “Some students made strong, concrete suggestions that I shared at our meeting, which gave a lot of insight…there is value in students seeing administration as accessible and available” said Dr. Faisal Al Mubarak. An opportunity for the female students to discuss issues was made available with the presence of Director for External Affairs, Dr. Maha al Saud, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, Dr. Hend Al Sudairy, Asst. Professor

The Marketing & Public Relations Department would like to thank all sponsors, students, and facility staff for their time and support!

August 2013

n an effort to develop communication paths between senior administrators and students the Provost Coffee Break event was launched at Alfaisal University by the Provost Dr. Faisal Al Mubarak and the Marketing & Public Relations department on Saturday 6th April for Male students and Wednesday 17th April for female students. Some of the other avenues active to develop this communication include the Provost Corner on the Alfaisal Web site which is active, and is updated on a monthly basis by the Provost.

Magazine

of English; Dr. Lubna Almunawar; and Associate Dean for female students in the College of Medicine, Dr. Dana Bakheet. As a student centered university it is imperative that the voices of students be heard and senior management have a mechanism in place to show the Board of Trustees that opportunities to develop communication paths between university administrators and students are being being made available on a consistent basis. This year, we want to build on the opportunities being made available for students and administrators to informally interact with one another the goal of these opportunities for discussion to direct the University towards a community-based reflection upon its most central values and to guarantee an enjoyable, affordable and quality academic experience for all at Alfaisal. “I’m trying to be approachable and someone [students] can come to if they have a concern or idea,” Dr. Faisal said. Coffee with the Deans is another venue that serves to connect College faculty with students and the Deans, timely discussion opportunities similar to The Provost’s Coffee Break. Dr. Faisal plans to continue the discussion opportunities into the New academic year and throughout his time as Provost. The next Provost Coffee Breaks for new academic year will be announced shortly.

Magazine

August 2013

Marketing &

Public Relations

Keeping You Connected To Alfaisal Nouran Al-Sahhaf

lfaisal’s social media pages have always been the best channel to communicate with current students, potential students and even alumnus as well as parents of students, faculty and staff. It also plays an important part in reaching potential students by introducing Alfaisal’s unique programs and offered scholarships. Social media pages enable students to be involved with what’s going on at Alfaisal, as these pages are regularly updated with any current and future events that are related to Alfaisal, to give them the chance to attend and be part of its success. Other than keeping students updated with events, these pages are essential for building stronger connections with current students and alumnus through posting of news about their contributions, successes and achievements throughout their years at Alfaisal and long after graduating. Since social media websites are designed as two-way communication platforms, current and potential students can easily communicate with Alfaisal through these pages by posting their enquiries or concerns and all of their enquiries are responded to by the Marketing and Public Relations department, which is responsible for managing all Alfaisal social media pages or by directing the enquiries to the concerned department, to insure that the students are provided with the right information they are enquiring about. The Marketing and Public Relations department will always try its best to improve the way Alfaisal social media pages are managed and it is noticeable that these pages are gradually growing by the minute, and this can be shown from the increased number of followers, level of interaction and interest. The below graph shows the increase in number of followers on Alfaisal Twitter account in the past 6 months.

Yazeed Al Rajhi:

hursday 23rd of May, 2013, Alfaisal hosted for the first time in collaboration with “Thursday’s Meeting” team guest Yazeed Alrajhi, Saudi rally racer, to talk about his experience and achievements as a young Saudi racer champion. Following his recovery from a car accident in Ha’il Rally in 2013, Mr. Yazeed made his first appearance to address the young generation of Alfaisal university students. With over 500 attendees; male & females the event kicked off with an opportunity for all to attempt a go at the car simulators, provided by Alrajhi racing team, and to record their attempts (fastest) drivers allowing particpants to live and experience first hand the Yazeed experience. Gifts were awarded to the fastest racers at the end of the evening, courtesy of Yazeed Al Rajhi. Racer Yazeed made his appearance in the evening to shed some light on his childhood dreams to become a racer and how he started his career in his early days, he also expressed his passion towards cars and mentioned the difficulties he faced in the society starting with his family concerns and observation about this hobby. He also talked about his participation in the 13 rallies that he raced in. It was noted that Racer yazeed started his career in the year 2008 and is still racing until today, he wish to establish his own racing circuit and racing school. A “photograph session” was also part of the evening surprises, where guests had the opportunity to take photos of the racer’s winning cars with the best three photographs given a gift at the end of the show The evening ended with audience receiving gifts that included air tickets to Turkey, Iphone & Ipad!! Yazeed gave hosts of the event a big thanks and also to his fans in the audience for participating.

August 2013

Magazine

Action Ya Dawrey

Sondos Al-Jazairy

Provost Picnic Sondos Al-Jazairy

he Marketing & PR Department hosted for the first time a Provost Picnic “Family Fun Day” that took place in the green area of the palace grounds on Thursday 17th February, 2013. With more than 150 Alfaisal staff and their families attending, the employee geared event, where they got the chance to meet together in an informal event and introduce their families in a day full of activities and entertainment. The major idea of bringing this event together was to promote for a friendly family environment, off working hours and off usual campus routine, in a beautiful climate where kids can enjoy scheduled activities such as playing in bouncy castle, clown entertainment and dancing, different options for face painting, Cotton candy, popcorn and Ice-cream treatment in the perfect venue with the green gazebo’s surrounded by tables and chairs for guests to sit in. As for employees, they enjoyed an informal gathering with the provost, where it was a great opportunity for them to introduce families to the provost; they also enjoyed the Traditional Arabic Food “AlSaj” offering different types of flavors along with selected food from Yelnzlar restaurant. There was also a Raffle prize draw on winning an invitation dinner for two guests at Alfasaliyah Hotel. The event was concluded by a group picture and a welcoming cake from the provost to all guests.

ction Ya Dawry: The high rated sports show, produced by MBC Action , was aired live from Alfaisal University Campus in the presence of lively sprots enthusiasts.

The talk show, which is distinguished from all other Saudi sport shows for being direct, daring and challenging to all sport factors that raise or lower Saudi football performance was well received at Alfaisal. Aired weekly the show is hosted by the famous interlocutor Waleed Alfaraj, who for the first time broadcasted live from Riyadh and exclusively from Alfaisal University campus. On Saturday 16th of February, more than 200 students and sports enthusiasts participated in the episode discussing Saudi football performance, challenges and ways to improve Saudi football clubs, either by producing a strategic plan by responsible authorities, or by using the expertise of international coaches and football decision makers to improve soccer performance. The debate between Mr. Waleed and the guests was lively and at times heated as the performace of footballers came into question, many of those attendees were of the young generation who admire and support Saudi football teams. Alfaraj concluded the show by thanking Alfaisal for their great hospitality and mentioned if he was living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia he would for sure admit his children to Alfaisal University!

Magazine

August 2013

Alfaisal University Mustafa Abbas Abdelwahid , Director of University LIbrary

Library

Alfaisal University

Public Relations

lfaisal University Library is committed to providing quality service and an excellent collection of materials to support the mission, goals, educational, and research needs of the university community including students, staff, faculty and administration, in support of the University's diverse curriculum. During this academic year, the Library started the process of overhauling the whole library structure and operation plans, and with the help of the University Leadership; the Library was able to achieve the following objectives: A new website for the Library was launched, available at http://lib. alfaisal.edu/. The recently launched library website was received with a great enthusiasm by the Library users; within less than two weeks of its launch, the total number of visitors exceeded 4,000 visitors. The Library websites provides students and faculty members with all the information that they may need when they navigate the Library, for example, the Library Faculty Services tab in the main website provides guidance to Alfaisal University faculty members on how to use the library, incorporate the Library resources in their curriculum, place materials on reserve, place an Interlibrary Loan (ILL) requests for materials for inclusion in that are not available in the Library, and how to recommend books, journals, and other materials for inclusion in the Library collection. During the 2012-2013 academic year, the Library embarked on ambitious project to build its collection of electronic resources to meet the rising demands for these types of resources among its users. More than 150,000 e-books were added to the Library. The newly added books are mainly from high calibre publishers such as Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Emerald, Springer, IEEE etc. These newly added e-books cover all subjects taught in the University. The Library also enhanced its databases and e-journals collection by subscribing to more than 100 databases and about 100,000 electronic journals. To empower Alfaisal University community with the necessary skills on how to utilize the Library resources, the Library began to offer a range of user education services to help library users find and evaluate information more efficiently and effectively. As of today more than 19 information literacy sessions were organized by the Library and the number of participants in these sessions exceeded 340 students and faculty members. To enhance its online presence, and to provide additional services to its users, the library the Library also initiated a new project called the Subject Guides, available at http://libguides.alfaisal.edu/ library. The aim of the project is to dedicate a library website to every class that is taught in Alfaisal; thus far, more than 96 subject

August 2013

Magazine

guides have been published. The Library currently has the largest database/ Subject Guides in the Kingdom. The Library also joined the Saudi Digital Library (SDL), a highly important development, which has enabled us to further enrich and enhance the resources available for our users and to help in containing the rising cost of databases subscription. By joining the SDL, the Library be able to share resources with other higher education institutions in KSA, and become part of the Interlibrary Loan Services that is currently in place. To facilitate faculty and students constant access to library resources, The Library implemented a remote access service for its resources called EZproxy. which allows students and faculty members to access the library resources 7/24 from off the campus or anywhere around the world.

Magazine

August 2013

Alfaisal

Research

Dr. Matheus Goosen, Associate Vice President, Office of Research

Alfaisal Unitversity Students Honoured at Annual Student Research Recognition Day

Contd. from page 9

Mr Abdulhadi AlAmoudi, a final year medical student and Director of (Business) and Dr Nouredine Zettili (Science & General Studies). the Undergraduate Research Committee in the College of Medicine said that “I believe that events such as the recognition ceremony There was also a surprize guest speaker, Mr. Paul Salopek, an are very important in encouraging students to join scholarly driven American jou r na lis t a nd writer and two-time P u l i t z e r P r i z e projects. It is also winner, who is well known that currently on a TH WINNING POSTERS AT 4 ANNUAL RESEARCH DAY STUDENT POSTER COMPETITION appreciation will seven year walk help in retaining Business & Management along one of the Prize Poster Number Poster Title and Authors those students routes taken by B2-AlKraidees Entrepreneurship Education in Saudi Arabia 1 Sara Zaki AlShowaier, Norah Abdulmajed Alkraidees w h o a r e early humans to B3-Al-Saud Basic Management Practices in the Saudi Building Industry: Exploratory Pilot Study 2 Saud Mohammed Al-Saud currently doing migrate out of B1-Al-Saud Business Incubators and Entrepreneurship Skills at Alfaisal University 3 research to Africa. He spoke Nouf Bandar Al Saud, Duna Turki AlSaud, Abeer Khalid AlSaud, continue on this Engineering & Technology to the students path. We were Prize Poster Number Poster Title and Authors about the next E1-Rizvi Safety Assessment of Alfaisal University 1 Naqi Haider Rizvi also very happy generation of 2 E4-Mahmoud Tesla’s Founding Coil with the recent Saudis making Abdulrahman Ayman Altabba, Mohamed Tarek Abdelaty, Naqi H Rizvi, Reem Abdulrahman Mahmoud announcement Science & Humanities h i stor y e ve r y of the Boeing Prize Poster Number Poster Title and Authors day. Mr Salopek’s S1- Bajaman Bio-Specimen Ownership: Human Body as Property 1 S t u d e n t journey which Juhaina Bajaman S2-Bandar Synth., Character. , & Antibacterial Activity of Graphene Containing Silver Nanoparticles using Microwave Irradiation 2 Research Awards will cover more Khalid B. Alsaud competition. I Medicine & Health Science than 20,000 km, think that we, Prize Poster Number Poster Title and Authors beginning in M27-Sabbagh CC2D1A, The Signalling Pathway Match Maker and its Role in Autism 1st as students, will Africa, in Ethiopia, continue to help across the Middle Mohamed Diya Sabbagh 1st M26-Alhallaf Breast Cancer Risk Reduction Associated with Breast Feeding advance the East and through undergraduate Asia, via Alaska Rama Ayed Alhallaf, Ranim Adnan Chamseddin, Cynthia Mosher, Tehreem Khan 2nd M25- Sarkar Silencing the HSP27 Gene Suppresses growth and Migration Capabilities of PANC-1 Cells research culture and down the Abdullah Sarkar, Haneen H. Baitalmal on campus.” western edge rd M14 -Sebai Autozygome-Guided Exome Seq. Reveals Path. Mut. & Novel Candidate Disease Genes in Retinal Dystrophy 3 of the Americas Patients Mohammed-Adeeb Eassam Sebai, Ahmed Shamia, Malik Nassan, Mohammed Danny Ray-Zack The students to the southern 3nd M9-Marashli The Role of CaMKII as a Chromatin Remodeler in Cardiac Hypertrophy Qussay Marashly were thrilled to tip of Chile aims have the awards to cover current and certificates major global handed out by the Chair of the Executive Committee, HH P. Bandar, stories by walking alongside the people who live them. The project the Provost, Dr Faisal Al-Mubarak, the Executive Director for External entitled, Out of Eden, is partially funded by the National Geographic Affairs, Dr Maha Al Saud, and the College Deans, Dr Gilles Cormier Magazine. (Engineering), Dr. Khaled Al Kattan (Medicine), Dr Daniel Lund st

Winning Posters in 4th Annual Research Day Student Poster Competition held 10 ِApril 2013 at Alfaisal University in Riyadh

ne of Alfaisal University’s priorities is competence building by helping to develop a student’s intellectual abilities and team working skills through involvement in focused research that address strategic problems of concern to the country and the region. The “Research Day Student Poster Competition” is held each year to strengthen the vision that research is indeed one of the missions of Alfaisal University. Students present their summer research activities/ proposals/future programs. Students may submit a research paper in one of the following four categories: Business & Management; Engineering & Technology; Medicine & Health

August 2013

Magazine

Science; and Science & Humanities. Any undergraduate student currently enrolled at university is eligible to take part in the annual competition. This year there were 36 posters, a 70% increase over last year. The Organizers were pleased to see that the College of Business contributed posters for the first time. In addition, a total of 16 posters were contributed by female students. This was also the first time that the competition had four distinct categories. Prizes were awarded in each category. The awards which consist of trophies and cash prizes will be handed out at an official ceremony to be arranged by the University in the near future. The Chair of the Organizing Committee, Mattheus Goosen, said “each year I continue to be impressed by the quality of work produced by our students. The research presented was done either on their own, in groups or in collaboration with local research centres as well as overseas institutions.” On behalf of all the faculty judges and members of the Organizing Committee we would like to congratulate all participants in the competition. Alfaisal University is very proud of all of our students.

Magazine

August 2013

MESSAGE FROM

HRH Prince Khalid Al Faisal academic programs having the best and most up to date formats and resources, cooperating with the best universities overseas. This noble project, since its beginning, has enjoyed the support of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, and the Crown Prince, which has given this mission momentum and pace. This university has also been supported by a distinguished élite of individuals both inside and outside the Kingdom, who took upon themselves the social responsibility of serving the Arab nation, enabling each individual within the walls of this institution to be a unique competitor on the race track of universal civilization.

Special Supplement

All these influences have contributed towards founding this university upon a solid base of international modern experience in its multidisciplinary fields, and upon a base of high moral principles values. This firm grounding is reflected in the system of the university’s strategies and protocols, in its regulations and making-decision processes, in its curriculum, in its governance, and in its competent teaching staff - hereby offering the requisite theoretic, scientific and practical ideals, examples, norms and values to its student body. I am proud of our sons and daughters, the ripe fruit of this university, and recall the long journey of forethought, effort and planning that was undertaken to prepare for this great day, from the time that I presided over the laying of the first foundation stone, till the day, as I attended the first ceremony of the university’s first graduate students. It is no doubt that we are proud of, and optimistic for, these graduating students as they leave us, taking with them the benefit of knowledge bestowed upon them and, counting on Allah, to proceed hence to reconstruct and reform our world, and to give effect to the will of Allah. I congratulate them, and salute their perseverance in their pursuit of knowledge and success.

t is a wonderful moment, heavy with the delicious smells and scents of the new harvest, as we celebrate the gathering of the first fruits of this modern young university. We, the King Faisal Foundation and the Board of Trustees of the Alfaisal University, are delighted to present to Saudi Arabian society - and to the Arab world - an elite cohort of young men and women of this university, all of whom have completed their studies in their various scientific pathways and have obtained the degrees which qualify them to serve their communities in a variety of crucial fields of vital application to our modern society- fields in which they have demonstrated competency in both theory and practice. The King Faisal Foundation established this University as part of its education mission to realize the vision of the martyr king – Allah Bless his soul – of establishing a scientific institution that offers specialized

August 2013

Magazine

I thank, too, all who contributed to this place of science becoming a beacon of enlightenment in our capital, Riyadh, radiating commitment and service to our community and to the Arab nation. I wish all of you success, progress and the blessings of Allah.

Khalid Al Faisal Chairman of the Borad of Trustees Alfaisal University

Magazine

August 2013

Dean's

Provost Speech of Alfaisal’s mission, the value of research proposals funded through King AbdulAziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) has reached 30 million Saudi Riyals. The university is currently in the process of negotiating a thirty-million Riyal research partnership with KACST, and our faculty are actively engaged in research projects with other prominent and renowned local and international partners, including ARAMCO, Partners Harvard Medical International, College of Business at Harvard University, the Research Center at King Faisal Specialized Hospital, BOEING, the General Authority for Investment, and Al-Anoud Establishment,. According to Thompson Reuters, taking into consideration the number of faculty, Alfaisal University ranked first in publishing high impact factor journals in biology, third in medical sciences, fourth in all majors, and with respect to the number of published medical journals, it ranked seventh among the Saudi Universities. Alfaisal University also ranked number one in the highly competitive Aramco national research competition, winning a large number of grants. Alhamdulillah, with the help of God, Alfaisal University’s programs have received the general and specific academic accreditations in record time, and we will finalize the accreditation requirements in the coming few days.

than 90 international research projects activities;, published 24 papers; and delivered presentations at numerous national and international conferences. had tens of national and international presentation. They performed several university activities, community services, and charity works. They gained the top position in the national exams and international standardized tests. They truly represented Alfaisal mission and vision to be a world class research intense intensive university. I am sure that they are today proud to be Alfaisal graduates and Alfaisal is also proud to have those these students as their our prime premier graduates.

Newbachelor’s and master’s degree programs have been launched, after a thorough exploration of trends in education worldwide, as well as analysis of job market needs in consultation with relevant institutions in the public and the private sectors. During this academic year, and in collaboration with the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) in the US, the College of Business launched the 'Executive Education' program to offer training courses in relation to the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) qualification. This program aims to offer more than training courses during the next year, God willing. Seeking knowledge is a noble task, making it available is a great trust, and benefiting from it in various walks of life is a big challenge.

Vice President & Chief Academic Officer (Provost)

n the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. Praise be to Allah and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. His Royal Highness Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Riyadh Region, Your Royal Highnesses, Your Highnesses and Excellencies, Male and Female Graduates, Respected Guests Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullah wa Barakatuh With God's guidance, and the efforts of my academic and administrative colleagues, we celebrate this year's graduation of the second batch of students from Alfaisal University. Over the last few years, and in accordance with our belief that challenge inspires innovation, our young university has marshaled seamlessly towards the realization of the ambitious goals outlined in the university’s original strategic plan and key performance indicator criteria. Numerical figures confirm our achievements, which we believe are still modest in relation to our immense ambitions. At Alfaisal University’s main campus, the number of faculty has increased over the last two years from 45 to 100. The number of students has also increased from 350 to 1400, apart from the University Preparatory Program (UPP), and the Prince Sultan Colleges for Tourism and Business in Abha and Jeddah, both of which now are functioning under the umbrella of Alfaisal University. Both institutions are currently undergoing major restructuring so as to be aligned with the vision and mission of Alfaisal. In research, which is one of the major pillars

August 2013

Alfaisal University was established with a clear commitment to excellence in technical education, research, and community service. To achieve the Late King Faisal's vision (God bless his soul), it is important to invest in attracting the best academicians, and to collaborate with the Ministry of Higher Education in establishing an environment that inspires innovation and excellence. I would like to reiterate my sincere congratulations to the graduating Class of 2013, males and females. May God, the Almighty, guide your steps in life! This event fills me with a sense of pride and happiness, and I hope you will always remember the university in a positive light. Rest assured that we would like to keep in touch with you, and remember that the university gains its life and energy from continuous relationship with you, and it is you who inspire us towards innovation and growth. In this quick speech, I must express my sincere thanks and gratitude to His Majesty the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, and Crown Prince (God bless them) for their contributions to education in the Kingdom. Special and sincere thanks are also extended to His Royal Highness, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Prince Khaled Alfaisal and their Royal Highnesses and Excellencies, members of the Board of Trustees, who exerted every effort during the last many years to make Alfaisal what it is today. Most sincere thanks and gratitude are extended to the sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters of the Late King Faisal (May Allah Bless his Soul), who have spent generously and worked diligently to establish this prestigious educational institution on the site of their father's Palace . I would like to also thank His Highness Prince Bandar Bin Saud Bin Khaled, Chairman of the Executive Committee and Member of the Board of Trustees; the Ministry of Higher Education; and the National Commission for Academic Accreditation & Assessment for their unstinting support in helping us understand and overcome the difficulties which face private higher education in the Kingdom. . May Allah grant us success. Wassalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh (May the Peace and Blessings of Allah Be Upon You)

Prof. Dr. Faisal Al Mubarak Provost, Alfaisal University

Magazine

Speech

God bless them all

Dr. Khaled Al-Kattan Dean, College Of Medicine, College of Medicine

ear sons, the graduates of college of medicine for the year 2013, yes my sons not to overtake their parents role, as parents have to have our respect and obedient obedience after our God, and not to avoid calling them students as teachers should be respected next to profits prophets. But they are truly our sons, this was the way we were at Alfaisal, a true student centered university and with characterized by excellent relations between students and faculty I would like to congratulate them on their achievements and their graduation. them for their achievements and for their graduation. They gained faith through their believe beliefs and ethics, they acquired aquiered knowledge by the study atstudying different courses and they learned work skills through their practical training, and now they are ready to be elite doctors to serve the country and the world. Yes; isn’t it is by faith, knowledge and performance that you build civilization These are the words that our beloved King Faisal said and was meant to be our Alfaisal logo and our student’s advise These good words are like good tree whose root is firm and whose branches are in heaven (as Allah says said in Islam’s Holy Book: The Quran) our holly book, now yielding its fruit by those graduates.

...‫بسم اهلل والصالة و السالم على رسول اهلل‬ ...‫أبنائي الطالب خريجو الدفعة األولى من كلية الطب بجامعة الفيصل‬ ً ‫نعم أبنائي ليس نقصا ً في حق أبائهم و أمهاتهم فلهم مني ومنهم بعد طاعة اهلل احسانا‬ ‫ ولكن هكذا كان حالنا في جامعة‬.‫وليس عيبا ً أن أكون معلما ً أو عميدا ً فكاد املعلم أن يكون رسوال‬ .‫الفيصل التي محورها الطالب و تأصلت فيها عالقة الطالب بأستاذه و زمالئه‬ ‫هؤالء الطالب على مدى خمس سنوات في جامعة الفيصل تزودوا باآلداب و اخللق على نهج عقيدتنا‬ ‫اإلسالمية السمحاء و تسلحوا بالعلم و املعرفة من خالل الدراسة املتقدمة و العاملية و تدربوا على‬ ‫املهارات و العمل ليكون االتقان شعارهم ليتخرجو اليوم أطباء أكفاء يساهموا في بناء مجتمعهم‬ .‫و خدمته على أكمل وجه‬ ‫ كلمة طيبة قالها مليكنا الراحل فيصل ابن‬...‫نعم أليس بالعقيدة و العلم و العمل تبنى احلضارات‬ .ً ‫عبدالعزيز فكانت للجامعة شعارا ً و لطالبنا منهاجا‬ ‫اليوم نراها شجرة طيبة متثلت في صرح هذه اجلامعة التي أنشأت حول قصره املتواضع كبناء ثابت‬ ‫و هؤالء اخلريجون هم فروعها التي تتألأل في سماء مجتمعنا خلدمة اإلنسانية في مملكتنا احلبيبة و‬ ."‫العالم أجمع "كلمة طيبة كشجرة طيبة أصلها ثابت و فرعها في السماء‬ ‫نفتخر اليوم بهؤالء اخلريجون فقد استطاعوا أن تكون لهم أكثر من تسعني بحث علمي منشور‬ ‫في مجالت دورية عاملية و شاركوا في عشرات من اللقاءات العلمية وقدموا كثير من األبحاث في‬ ‫مؤمترات محلية و عاملية و حصدوا العديد من اجلوائز العلمية و البحثية على مستوى اململكة و‬ ‫ فهنيئا ً لهم على هذا اإلجناز و نبارك ألنفسنا هؤالء الطالب يتخرجون اليوم‬،‫على املستوى العاملي‬ ‫و يحملون بفخر شهادات حتمل اسم جامعة الفيصل ونحن أيضا ً نفخر بهم إلجنازاتهم التي لبت‬ .‫رسالة اجلامعة و هدفها لتكون جامعة عاملية بحثية متميزة‬ ....‫و اهلل ولي التوفيق‬

They had have an impressive record of accomplishments. achievements, This group of 35 students shared in more

‫خالد بن مناع القطان‬

Magazine

August 2013

Dean's

Speeches

n behalf of all College of Business faculty and staff, it is a great honor and privilege, to congratulate the graduating class of 2013. We applaud your perseverance and dedication for pressing forward to accomplish this great academic and personal achievement. Your determination, with the support of family, friends, and the Aflaisal University faculty and staff, has brought you to this point. Well done. Your Alfaisal University Degree is like a stock that you have invested in. We will all do our best to ensure that stock rises in the coming years so that you can always be proud to say ‘I am a graduate of Alfaisal University’. Wherever you go and whatever you do, you are high-level ambassadors for Alfaisal University and the College of Business. Go forth boldly, humbly, and confidently with your business degrees and prosper greatly in all of your personal and business ventures. Congratulations!

Speech – Dr. Daniel W. Lund College of Business, Alfaisal University May 15, 2013

our Highnesses, Distinguished Guests, Dear Graduates, Parents and Colleagues: One only has to read a newspaper or, for that matter, take a drive around Riyadh, to realize that Saudi Arabia is a country on the move, with daily announcements of multi-billion riyal economic development projects. And who better to ensure the future sustainability of all this in terms of highly-qualified personnel: it is universities like Alfaisal, with its world-class programs, producing the magnificent graduates that we have before us tonight. To them, I offer my most sincere congratulations, and wishes for a long, prosperous and fulfilling career. You worked hard for it, you and your parents sacrificed for it, and you deserve it. Now, engineering graduates, go boldly forward and fulfil your professional mission, that is: “to make a substantial contribution to the welfare of Saudi society and the world at large through professional practice and/or postgraduate studies”. And please, always stay in touch with us, ask us for our advice, and never hesitate to give us yours, for your field experience will serve to enrich our teaching and define research projects which will benefit future cohorts. Thank you. Gilles Cormier, Ph.D., P. Eng., FEC

Speech – Dr. Gilles Cormier College of Engineering, Alfaisal University May 15, 2013

August 2013

Magazine

Dean's

Speech

our Highnesses, BoT Members, Distinguished Guests, Graduating Students, Parents, Faculty

I am not here to deliver a speech. Instead, I am going to offer congratulations to four distinguished groups, and I need your help in delivering them. First, congratulations to the graduating students. Congratulations for your sacrifices and for having braved, endured, and, above all, survived the academic rigor of Alfaisal. I invite everyone else in the audience to stand up and give these smart students a very loud round of applause. Second, congratulations to the parents. I both congratulate and commend you for your selfless sacrifices in raising these smart children. You have every reason to celebrate today, you have delivered to your country the most precious gift: high minded and high purposed citizens. Today is your day to redeem and cash on your investment. As such, I invite everyone else in the audience to give these parents another very loud round of applause. Third, congratulations to the BoT members, the professors, and the administrators. You have given generously to produce these finest students. So, I invite everyone else in the audience to give them a loud round of applause. Fourth, congratulations to a man of international stature, a man of vision, a man of courage and pride: he is not among us, yet he has made this celebration possible; he is not among us, yet we can feel his presence: the late Kind Faisal Alsaud, may the Lord bless his soul. Equally important, congratulations to his children and grand children who have made the dream of their father possible through this civilizational and civilizing project of Alfaisal. Also, congratulations to the members of the BoT and to the generous donors who have helped establish this great institution. To give them the recognition they deserve, I ask them to remain seated, and I invite everyone else in this audience to stand up and deliver a memorable round of applause which is the loudest and the longest so far! Finally, my message to the 2013 graduating students: your parents and your country expect a lot from you. We are proud of you today, and we will be even prouder of you in the future when we hear about your achievements. Come back to Alfaisal and share your success stories with the students. You will be roles model for them. As alumni of this great institution, wherever you will be located, you will always be part of the Alfaisal family. Your horizons are limitless. So, rise up 2013 graduates! Alfaisal has prepared you to soar higher and higher like mighty and fearless eagles! Soar higher and higher until you scale the majestic heights of success! So, Rise up! Rise up graduates! You are the walking dream of Alfaisal and the great hopes of this nation!

Speech – Prof. Nouredine Zettili College of Sciences and General Studies, Alfaisal University May 15, 2013

Magazine

August 2013

Graduation

Student Speech

inston Churchill said: “we make a living by what we get and we make a life by what we give”. For every student in this hall today, make a living but also a life, be successful and also significant, be practical but also empathetic and human.

Your Royal Highness, Prince Khaled bin Bandar, Your Royal highness Prince Turki Al Faisal, dignitries, Provost, honorable faculty and staff, proud parents and siblings, particularly my parents and sister who did not know of my speech, and most importantly, the graduating class of 2013, a splendid evening to all of you. My name is Naqi Haider Rizvi, and I stand in front of you as a proud engineering graduate of Alfaisal University. I have had an incredible and memorable 4 year journey in this institution, yes I am visually impaired as I was born with an incurable disease, but that didn’t make me lose my vision (correct this as in re word it ) With the help of Allah (SWT), the support of my parents and sister, the belief and confidence on the part of my teachers, and the encouragement from my friends allowed me to cross all hurdles to get closer towards my goals. I have stumbled through hurdles of life but I got up each time with belief and a smile When I needed to learn my teachers would guide; their voice of wisdom made me read and write. My family’s patience helped me through the most difficult times of my life. I persevered to reach my goal of becoming an engineer, and here, at the age of 22, I feel very lucky to have been through the tough experiences that I went through. These hardships molded me for the better and I emerged as a more committed, resilient, and ambitious person. I did not allow obstacles to overcome me. Instead, I surmounted them with courage and achieved victorious. My dear friends, the day we change our outlook towards life and think positively, we will begin to view obstacles as challenges, failures as stepping stones to success, and rejections as routes to several other doors. For those around me, my world seems colorless and dark to them. However, I tell you with confidence that my world is very bright and illuminated. In fact, my world is perfect because when you see things, you view them the way they are. However, I look at the world the way I wish to see it and ignore all the imperfections that your eyes make you see. When I view Alfaisal University’s magnificent structure in my mind’s eye, it seems to be a wonderful piece of art. Even more beautiful than the physical structure is its student-faculty-staff composition. Its ambition of becoming a student centered university will take it to great heights and will produce visionaries. I am proud to graduate from this institution and I am sure you are too. This day is to recognize us for our efforts and not to make us a student group in history. We need to carry forward the legacy of knowledge, faith, and performance. This day marks a major transition in our lives from the sheltered and forgiving world of academia to the demanding and cumbersome job market. Some of us will become great doctors, some skillful engineers, some responsible business men and women, and others valued scientists. We all should stay connected with ourselves and the university as this close-knit family will thrive as a single entity. At the end, I would like to thank all those who helped me make my dream a success. The list goes on and on, but here are some very special people: my family, teachers, friends, Dr. Faisal Mubarak, Dr. Maher Alodan, Dr. Hisham Abad, Mr. Adel Rajab, Ms Saphia Ikram, Dr. Gillies Cormier, Dr. Abdallah, Dr. Sa’ed Salhieh, Eng. Faisal Lodi, Hammam Adam, and Ahmad Farahat. Thank you for supporting me all the way and for having the confidence in my abilities. We the graduating cohort of 2013 shall make you all proud! I depart by saying that I am part of Alfaisal and Alfaisal is part of me. You will shine and prosper. Lets grow together….Le nakbur Maan I thank you!

Speech – Naqi Haider Rizvi College of Engineering Gradaute May 15, 2013

August 2013

Magazine

Alfaisal Graduate of 2013 Master of Business Administration (Women) Afnan Saud AlAhmad Alanoud Bader Alfirm Alanoud Khalid Mishaal Alsaud Alhanouf Mohammed AlGheriri AlJoharah Dhari AlRashid Dana Khalid Abdullah AlMulhim Dema Abdulrahman M Alissa Farah Dosar AlShalabi Gadah Abdullah AlAndas Haifa Abdulrahman AlMuhanna Hala Ibrahim Halawani Hessa Abdulaziz AlMohanna Lamia Suliman AlDarsoni Lujain Abdulrahman AlTowaijri

Mai Abdullah AlMohanna Meshael Mohammed Aloqiel Monirah Mohammed A Sakka Munirah Hamad AlHazani Nawarh Mohammad Faran Nora Mohammed Alsarhan Rana Abdullah AlBabtain Rasha Saad Mariq Rawa Khalid AlRabiah Reem Abdullah AlJarbou Sara Ahmed AlMadani Sara Ahmed AlRabiah Sara Ali AlSugair Sara Mohamed AlRabiah Sarah Mesfer Alrizqi

Alfaisal Graduate of 2013 Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Women) Abeer Khalid Faisal Alsaud Abeer Mohammed Owaidh AlJoaid Deemah Bader Abdullah Alsaud Norah Abdulmajid S AlKridis Nouf Bint Bandar Bin Saud Alsaud Reham Sulaiman AlHazza Sara Zaki Abdulaziz AlShowaier Sarah Nasser M Alhokair

Magazine

August 2013

Alfaisal Graduate of 2013 Master of Business Administration (Men)

Abdulaziz Khalid Alenazi Abdulaziz Omar AlAfaleq Abdullah Abdulrahman AlMutairi Abdulrahman Abdullah AlQahtani Awaad Abdullah ALShammari Bander Mohammed AlDuwais Eyad Ibrahim AlJohani Fahad Abdulmohsen AlMulhem Faisal Ali Alasiri Ibrahim Mohammed AlGadah Majed Ali Bin Jabir Mashary Musallam AlShaman Mohammed Abdulrahman BinMousa Mohammed Ahmed Jamal AlShennawi Mohammed Musfir AlMalki Mohammed Saif AlIbrahim Monif Mohammed AlOtaibi Motasim Adil Niazy Muawia Abdulrahman Basodan Nasser Saad Ali AlShehri Nedal Saeed AlZahrani Omar Abdulaziz AlOmer Saleh Munia AlSharekh Sultan Abdulaziz AlNasser Turki Abdulaziz Alnemr Ziad Bandar Mohammed Alyousef

August 2013

Magazine

Alfaisal Graduate of 2013 Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Men)

Abdulaziz Mohamed AlSarhan Ahmad Mohammed oun AlDroubi Ahmed Munir Alnajjar Ali Ghazi AlJarba Ammar Yasser Awad Fahad Abdulaziz AlDeghaither Fahad Ahmed Alowaidha Fahad Saud BinDughaythir Faisal Saud Alkulaibi Hussam Asad ElFatwadrak Ibrahim Saleh AlMotawa Muath Mehdi Khlifawi Muhannad Abdulwahab Algarawi Naif Abdulla Alobaidallah Rakan Abdulmonem Alrashed Turki Hussein Alkahtani Waleed Hamad Alsmail

Magazine

August 2013

Alfaisal Graduate of 2013 Bachelor of Science in Engineering (Men) Abdulhameed Mohammed Almaarik Abdulrahman Faisal Alsaud Abdulrahman Mohammed AlSayed Abdulwahab Khalil AlFraih Ahmad Khaled Elashkar Anas Mouath AlRifai Badeea Ferdaous Alazem Fahad Abdulaziz BinMeshait Feras Osama Elnimer Khalid Abdulaziz Alromaizan Khalid Ahmed Alrabiah Mohammad Husam AlRazaz Mohammed khaled Ibrahim Naif Abdulaziz Alsuwailem Naif Mohamed Ghazal Obadah Abdulfatah Awad S.M. Naqi Haider Rizvi Sami Kasawat Saud Bandar Alsaud Tarek Ziyad Alissa Usamah Mohammed Ajmal Yaser Riyad Elajou Youssef Omaia Elakwah Ziad Waleed Alsudairy

Alfaisal Graduate of 2013 Bachelor of Science in Life Sciences Khaled Bin Bandar Alsaud

August 2013

Magazine

Alfaisal Graduate of 2013 Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery Abdalrahman Hassan Shuqair Abdulhadi Abdulrahman AlAmoudi Abdullah Faisal AlMahmoud Abdullah Mazen AlShammari Abdurahman Khalid AlHamdani Abedalrazaq Osama Alkukhun Ahmad Hazem Adi Ahmad Talal M Anas Chamsi Ahmed Ali Shamia Ahmed Magdi AbuZaid Akram Mustafa Nurhussen Alaaeldin Osama AlRas A'man Talal Inayah Anas MHD Hisham Alkhani Anas Mohammed Koudieh Ayman Mohamed Awad Bara AbdulKarim AlMakadma Hamza Fawwaz Alabbasi Hani Jamal ALTurkmani Malik Mohammad Nassan Mohamad Essam Sebai Mohamed Nazhat AlYafi Mohammad Abrar Shareef Mohammad Fahmi Mathbout Mohammad Iffat Kabir Anindo Mohammad Samir Kushaim Mohannad Mohammed Abusaleh Muhammad Lucman Anwer Mustafa Akef Obeidat Naser Salamat Ullah Nazir Ahmed Al Barzan Sadek Akef Obeidat Salman Mohammed Nazmi Sultan Mansour AlDeghaither Tareq Mansoor AlTuhaifi Yousef Ahmed Alkurdi

Magazine

August 2013

Graduation

August 2013

Highlights

Magazine

Graduation

Highlights

Magazine

August 2013

Graduation Media

August 2013

Magazine

Coverage

Graduation

Highlights

Magazine

August 2013

Information

Technology

It's no secret that the standard hand-eye coordination tests doctors use to monitor neuromuscular deficits -- typically when a patient is injured or as a patient ages -- can be subjective, relying on, say, descriptions of reflexes and cognitive status such as "mild," "moderate," and "severe." So researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard, the Beth Israel Medical Center, and Hebrew SeniorLife have been developing what they call a rapid neuroassessment device, nicknamed NeuroAssess, to measure neuromuscular performance quantitatively instead of qualitatively. They've recently tested it on 150 healthy people aged 21 to 95 in the Boston area and are reporting in this week's Journal of Gerontology that their tablet-based tool can assign an actual number to describe the difference in performance between various individuals and conditions. "This new tool may hold great potential to augment existing protocols in a doctor's neuromotor assessment toolbox," Wyss Senior Staff Engineer Leia Stirling, who led the study, said in a news release. "It is portable, repeatable, quick to administer, and easy to perform."

he market for tools to create consumer and enterprise facing apps is complex with well over 100 potential tools vendors. For the next few years, no single tool will be optimal for all types of mobile application so expect to employ several. Six mobile architectures - native, special, hybrid, HTML 5, Message and No Client will remain popular. However, there will be a long term shift away from native apps to Web apps as HTML5 becomes more capable. New tablet app could diagnose concussions on the sidelines

Learn more about Big Data is moving from a focus on individual projects to an influence on enterprises' strategic information architecture. Dealing with data volume, variety, velocity and complexity is forcing changes to many traditional approaches. This realization is leading organisations to abandon the concept of a single enterprise data warehouse, instead they are moving towards multiple systems, including content management, data warehouses, data marts and specialised file systems tied together with data services and metadata, which will become the "logical" enterprise data warehouse.

In the study, participants used a stylus on a tablet to perform a basic tracing task, follow a moving target around a circle. Wyss developed proprietary computer methods to measure even the subtlest deviations from the circle, which help observe such skills as "motion fluidity" (how long the user pauses) and "complexity" (how well the person adapts to changes).

Tips for Safe Internet Banking Tips for Safe Online Banking •

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The app analyzes this data while taking into account the participant's age, sex, and handedness, and then assigns a number.

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Now that they've collected baseline data from healthy subjects, the team will investigate how well NeuroAssess can, well, assess people with known neuromuscular pathologies, from concussions to multiple sclerosis. The team is already working with athletes in Boston to gauge its ability to diagnose concussions.

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What is The Internet of Things

In memory computing

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a concept that describes how the internet will expand as consumer devices and physical assets are connected to the internet. Key elements of the IoT which are being embedded in a variety of mobile devices include embedded sensors, image recognition technologies and NFC payment. As a result, mobile no longer refers only to use of cellular handsets or tablets.

In memory computing (IMC) can also provide transformational opportunities.The execution of certain-types of hours-long batch processes can be squeezed into minutes or even seconds allowing these processes to be provided in the form of real-time or near real-time services that can be delivered to internal or external users in the form of cloud services.

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It is better to avoid using public terminals (such as Internet cafes) for Internet banking (though these days there is double verification through SMS) Beware of the higher risk of interception during a wireless connection. Only do your banking via a wireless hotspot if you are certain of the integrity of the connection Ensure that you have an up to date anti-virus and spyware software and perform regular system scans Never access the site via a link. Rather type the address into the browser address bar or save the address as a 'Favorite' It is better not open other websites while logged into Internet Banking; only have a single browser window open Choose a User ID and password that cannot be easily guessed and change these regularly Ensure your Operating System is up-to-date Check for the padlock in the your browser window (it indicates a secure site). You can click on this padlock to verify the site 'owners'. As shown below When you complete your online banking tasks, log off and close the browser window Never provide your password over the Internet (by email) or over the telephone to anyone (including persons identifying themselves as bank officials) Don't trust a PDF payment proof unless verified by the bank - these documents can be manipulated by fraudsters

The possibility of concurrently running transactional and analytical applications against the same dataset opens unexplored possibilities for business innovation. Numerous vendors will deliver in-memory-based solutions over the next two years driving this approach into mainstream use.

August 2013

Magazine

August 2013

Information

Technology

OnLine Electric Vehicles (OLEV) Wireless technology can now deliver electric power to moving vehicles. In next-generation electric cars, pick-up coil sets under the vehicle floor receive power remotely via an electromagnetic field broadcast from cables installed under the road. The current also charges an onboard battery used to power the vehicle when it is out of range. As electricity is supplied externally, these vehicles need only a fifth of the battery capacity of a standard electric car, and can achieve transmission efficiencies of over 80%. Online electric vehicles are currently undergoing road tests in Seoul, South Korea.

3-D printing and remote manufacturing Three-dimensional printing allows the creation of solid structures from a digital computer file, potentially revolutionizing the economics of manufacturing if objects can be printed remotely in the home or office. The process involves layers of material being deposited on top of each other in to create free-standing structures from the bottom up. Blueprints from computer-aided design are sliced into cross-section for print templates, allowing virtually created objects to be used as models for “hard copies” made from plastics, metal alloys or other materials.

Self-healing materials One of the defining characteristics of living organisms is their inherent ability to repair physical damage. A growing trend in biomimicry is the creation of non-living structural materials that also have the capacity to heal themselves when cut, torn or cracked. Self-healing materials which can repair damage without external human intervention could give

August 2013

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manufactured goods longer lifetimes and reduce the demand for raw materials, as well as improving the inherent safety of materials used in construction or to form the bodies of aircraft.

E n e r g y efficient water purification Water scarcity is a worsening ecological problem in many parts of the world due to competing demands from agriculture, cities and other human uses. Where freshwater systems are over-used or exhausted, desalination from the sea offers near-unlimited water but a considerable use of energy – mostly from fossil fuels – to drive evaporation or reverse-osmosis systems. Emerging technologies offer the potential for significantly higher energy efficiency in desalination or purification of wastewater, potentially reducing energy consumption by 50% or more. Techniques such as forward-osmosis can additionally improve efficiency by utilizing low-grade heat from thermal power production or renewable heat produced by solar-thermal geothermal installations.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) conversion and use Long-promised

technologies

for

the capture and underground sequestration of carbon dioxide have yet to be proven commercially viable, even at the scale of a single large power station. New technologies that convert the unwanted CO2 into saleable goods can potentially address both the economic and energetic shortcomings of conventional CCS strategies. One of the most promising approaches uses biologically engineered photosynthetic bacteria to turn waste CO2 into liquid fuels or chemicals, in low-cost, modular solar converter systems. Individual systems are expected to reach hundreds of acres within two years. Being 10 to 100 times as productive per unit of land area, these systems address one of the main environmental constraints on biofuels from agricultural or algal feedstock, and could supply lower carbon fuels for automobiles, aviation or other big liquid-fuel users.

Enhanced nutrition to drive health at the molecular level

Technology

Organic electronics and photovoltaics

Even in developed countries millions

Organic electronics – a type of printed

of people suffer from malnutrition due to nutrient deficiencies in their diets. Now modern genomic techniques can determine at the gene sequence level the vast number of naturally consumed proteins which are important in the human diet. The proteins identified may have advantages over standard protein supplements in that they can supply a greater percentage of essential amino acids, and have improved solubility, taste, texture and nutritional characteristics. The large-scale production of pure human dietary proteins based on the application of biotechnology to molecular nutrition can deliver health benefits such as muscle development, managing diabetes or reducing obesity.

electronics – is the use of organic materials such as polymers to create electronic circuits and devices. In contrast to traditional (silicon-based) semiconductors that are fabricated with expensive photolithographic techniques, organic electronics can be printed using low-cost, scalable processes such as ink jet printing, making them extremely cheap compared with traditional electronics devices, both in terms of the cost per device and the capital equipment required to produce them. While organic electronics are currently unlikely to compete with silicon in terms of speed and density, they have the potential to provide a significant edge in cost and versatility. The cost implications of printed massproduced solar photovoltaic collectors, for example, could accelerate the transition to renewable energy.

Remote sensing The increasingly widespread use of sensors that allow often passive responses to external stimulae will continue to change the way we respond to the environment, particularly in the area of health. Examples include sensors that continually monitor bodily function – such as heart rate, blood oxygen and blood sugar levels – and, if necessary, trigger a medical response such as insulin provision. Advances rely on wireless communication between devices, low power-sensing technologies and, sometimes, active energy harvesting. Other examples include vehicle-to-vehicle sensing for improved safety on the road.

Precise drug delivery through nanoscale engineering Pharmaceuticals

that

can

precisely delivered at the molecular level within or around a diseased cell offer unprecedented opportunities for more effective treatments while reducing unwanted side effects. Targeted nanoparticles that adhere to diseased tissue allow for the micro-scale delivery of potent therapeutic compounds while minimizing their impact on healthy tissue, and are now advancing in medical trials. After almost a decade of research, these new approaches are finally showing signs of clinical utility.

Fourth-generation reactors and nuclearwaste recycling Current once-through nuclear power reactors use only 1% of the potential energy available in uranium, leaving the rest radioactively contaminated as nuclear “waste”. While the technical challenge of geological disposal is manageable, the political challenge of nuclear waste seriously limits the appeal of this zerocarbon and highly scalable energy technology. Spent-fuel recycling and breeding uranium-238 into new fissile material – known as Nuclear 2.0 – would extend already-mined uranium resources for centuries while dramatically reducing the volume and long-term toxicity of wastes, whose radioactivity will drop below the level of the original uranium ore on a timescale of centuries rather millennia. This makes geological disposal much less of a challenge (and arguably even unnecessary) and nuclear waste a minor environmental issue compared to hazardous wastes produced by other industries. Fourth-generation technologies, including liquid metal-cooled fast reactors, are now being deployed in several countries and are offered by established nuclear engineering companies.

Magazine

August 2013

Alfaisal

Advancement

Ms. Lana Al Saleh, Advancement Manager, Development

Name

Type of Commitment

The Boeing Company

Commitment to a yearly donation of $ 50,000 (SAR 187,340 )for Research studies

Eng. Abdullah Bukshan

Commitment to 5 scholarship for 6 years total amount of donation SAR 2,850,000

Mohammed Al Amoudi

Commitment to 15 scholarship ( 5 scholarships yearly for 3 years )

Hassan AlSharbatly

Sponsorship made to E Library (22,000,000) 4,400,000 yearly for 5 years

Extended commitment Donors who completed their commitment are being approached to extend that commitment Name

Type of Commitment

Tawuniya

Expanded ways of collaboration for Alfaisal benefits

Al-Luhaidan

approved student scholarship / financial aid/ endowment for research

Saudi Oger

Funding a number of Research Chairs – Co up – training, scholarship - career

New Commitment The Advancement Office successfully obtained new commitments by approaching new donors and presenting ways to collaborate with AlFaisal University.

First Quarter

Name

Type of Commitment - yearly sponsorship for career portal SAR 60,000

rior to the establishment of Alfaisal University, an oath was taken by a number of supporters of knowledge and education pledging

time, effort, and money to transform the dream into reality. 11 Co-founders joined hands to establish the seed foundation of this nonprofit educational institute with a contribution of SAR 110,000,000. In the past 6 years, Continuance contributions were pledged exceeding the amount of SAR 1billion to support this education monument and was spent to fund buildings, scholarships, research, operation, resources, etc. The Advancement Office provides a central point of contact for coordinating and generating philanthropic support for the future development and success of the University. It offers the skills and experience necessary to manage and run the University's fundraising program in a professional and coordinated manner, and is pro-active in generating gifts for the University. Using core activities including: Donations & Legacies, and Events & Stewardship. Alfaisal Advancement Office successfully completed the first quarter of 2013 with over SAR 30,597,340 in commitment.

Manafea Holding CO.

Daem Real Estate Inv. Co.

Scholarship

Donation to the Student Fund

Career Opportunities for graduate students

Students Achievements Awards -

Sponsoring The Architectural and Interior Design Award

Alanoud Foundation

Lung cancer research fund SAR 500,000 yearly as per progress

Qualcomm Saudi Arabia LLC.

Internship / Activities

Mrs. Dina Farah

Class Room Naming (1,000,000)

Suliman S. Olayan Foundation

Co up – training, scholarship – career opportunities for students

Events:

Ongoing commitment AlFaisal University, Commitment to deliver highly qualified graduates equipped with the necessary skills and tools is through the finest education and support system.

August 2013

Magazine

1-The International Women’s Day In honor of The International Women’s Day that takes place yearly on 8th of March with a worldwide celebration to female achievements and success in fields such as politics, economics, education, and social wor. This year, the world celebrates its 100 year ceremony and in Saudi Arabia – Riyadh City the celebration highlighted Saudi Women's contributions to the society where Al-Faisal University partnered with Saudi Business Incubator – Makeen and Luthan Hotel and Spa for an evening to remember presenting a number of its top Saudi female managers and students speaking about their achievements , whereas Makeen presented success stories in entrepreneurship and MSC business 2- Alanoud Foundation Visit Alfaisal University had the pleasure of welcoming AlAnood Foundation party, Dr. Yousef AlHuzim –Secretary General, and Mr. Khalid AlSuliman. The visit started with a welcoming tour followed by a presentation of Alfaisal University, then, Dr. Khaled AlKattan dean, Collage of Medicine discussed the action plan for the lung cancer research funded by AlAnood Foundation. Dr. Yousef expressed appreciation for Alfaisal University achievements and the effort of its highly qualified staff. Further collaboration was agreed upon in the near future.

Magazine

August 2013

Alumni & Placement Relations

he mystery of Alfaisal University isn’t just what happens indoors, it’s the secret of how our alumni and faculty inspire the world through innovation and excellence. It’s the scenario of how they have created prominence and developed recognition, enduring the win and loss of markets, professions, and lives. We are honoured by the positive social impact of Alfaisal’s alumni and faculty, who have enhanced capital markets, improved economic models, expanded prosperity, and constructed institutions.

Alfaisal Career Fair

An Alumnus

Alumni & Placement Relations (APR) The APR Department’s first priority is to assure that every Alumnus/ Alumnae’s story is crowned with success. Our mission is to accommodate all the graduates in their desired jobs, strengthen the network between the Alumni and the university, and the network among themselves. This is accomplished by providing career and personal advancement, generating interaction, and stimulating long term relations and learning activities among the alumni as well as the university. The APR team provides superior guidance for Alfaisal graduates as they are our ambassadors during all the stages of their career paths to elevate the educational systems that Alfaisal is committed to achieve. Objectives and Goals:

• • • • • • •

To create and maintain a growing placement database, allowing us to employ our students in a timely manner and to be available at all stages of our Alumni’s career paths. To maintain a career portal that is an electronic hub of all our services such as CV builder, job search, career path tracking, and many more features. To provide networking opportunities for our alumni, students, and other stakeholders. Creating an annual newsletter updating and announcing AU and Alumni activities. Engaging in successful regional career fairs and workshops. Conducting topnotch graduation ceremonies and university reunions. Recognize the outstanding alumni and volunteers through Alumni award programs and events.

Mobily

With over three dozen employers - covering many sectors – such as BAE systems, SAP, United Technologies, Thales, Aramco, Intel, GRE Assets, Carrier Corporation, KAUST, Jones lang Lasalle (MENA), King Khalid Foundation, Aljomaih Holding Co., Atheeb, Ingeus, Jadwa and many more were eager to meet young graduates to fill current/potential vacancies.

Mobily is considered as one of the most growing telecommunication institutions in the world. This feature gave a general impression about the company's direction and its ability to compete in the sector in which it operates. In turn this built a positive picture to job seekers about the internal work environment that prompted "Mobily" staff to provide all of their skills and innovations for the company to continue its leadership in the telecommunications sector. In addition to the financial results achieved by the company, the increase number of subscribers, and the huge investments in infrastructure development makes Mobily one of the most important choices of job seekers.

Students that visited the fair felt this was an excellent opportunity for them to meet potential employers face to face and market themselves to their chosen industry. Ms Al Johara Al Saud from the Alumni & Placement Relations stated “Even if students haven’t finished their course and are still in further study, careers fairs are still worthwhile as a source of information, contacts and interview experience” .

• • • •

Campus access Library privileges Various learning opportunities both nationally and internationally Job hunt, career path tracking, and vast networking chances Mentoring support

Alfaisal Career Centre Portal The Alfaisal Career Portal has a wide range of available options which enables students to identify what suits them best. The APR Department is strongly committed to offering equal opportunities to all its users by offering impartial objective advice and guidance while respecting the confidentiality of any personal information received. Our main goal is to help our alumni land full-time jobs.

August 2013

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As a worldwide recognized company, what are the advantages which Mobily holds that

makes it appealing to the work force?

What are the training and development plans at Mobily? Mobily offers many training programs for all its employees on an annual basis, giving them the freedom to choose the course that suits their interests and contributes to the development

Make sure that you visit the next Career Fair as you will learn to:

When Alfaisal students graduate they automatically become members of Alfaisal Alumni Association. This allows our graduates to enjoy life long benefits provided by Alfaisal.

• • • • •

Alfaisal hosted its Second Annual Career Fair on May 7th 2013, with over 47 companies participating. The Career Fair aims to provide students with information about job opportunities and hiring availabilities in the local market and to facilitate the communication between the graduates and employer companies through having students submit their CVs to various companies which are located in one place.

Alfaisal Alumni Association

Benefits for our Alumni

Experience

•

Hone your interview skills – Even if you aren’t offered a job, talking to prospective employers about graduate appointments gives you valuable confidence and experience of interviews. Expand your network – Meeting job recruiters and even fellow graduates helps you build useful contacts for future reference. Learn industry information – Speaking to job recruitment professionals in your chosen sector is a great way to learn about the industry. Gather information about companies – Investigating the kind of graduate placements offered by a company tells you a lot about that organization as a whole. Securing potential work placements- If you are a student still in your year study you can approach companies and inquire about internship programs and research opportunities.

of their skills. It also provides specialized training courses to develop specific skills amongst its employees. Moreover, the “Mobily Elite Program" which was launched by the senior management is the most prominent training program. It attracts talented young Saudi fresh graduates either from a bachelor's or master's degree. The management was keen to launch the program because it enables employees to acquire all experiences via peer integration and movement between all the departments of the company. As well as providing them with intensive courses and specialized programs to enhance the performance. Mobily is keen to make this the best program for the development of all competencies by 2015. What position does Alfaisal University’s graduate hold? And how is his performance evaluated? We usually provide intensive practical training to fresh graduates for the purpose of gaining experience. Furthermore, there will be available specific opportunities to join the elite program through which many advantages will be granted such as direct employment with Mobily, lucrative salaries, distinctive incentives and allowances, extensive training programs for two years, the opportunity to work on special projects during the training period for individuals with outstanding performance, and an exceptional career path with fast track promotions for high achievers. Mobily will assess the performance of individuals enrolled in the Elite program via a

specialized consulting firm in addition to internal evaluation from Mobily’s human resources department based on their performance evaluation index. In your view what differentiates Alfaisal University graduates from graduates of other institutions? Would you be willing to recruit more Alfaisal University graduates in the future? Mobily continuously seeks to attract qualified graduates from local and international universities. Alfaisal University has been ranked amongst other universities as having the best students. This excellent reputation is due to its advanced curriculum in addition to privileged partnerships with prestigious international universities such as Harvard University, MIT, and Cambridge. Mobily considers Alfaisal University as the top university to recruit from due to the competencies of its graduates and by continually contributing highly qualified professionals to the labor force.

Magazine

August 2013